Technical excellence in the design and security of new banknotes has been recognised in a series of awards at the industry’s High Security Printing Asia Conference, organised by Reconnaissance International and held recently in Yokohama, Japan. There were three categories: Best New Series, Best New Banknote, and Best New Commemorative Banknote.
The Bank of Papua New Guinea’s new kina series was named Best New Series. The newly updated polymer based is in denominations of two, five, 10, 20, 50 and 100 kina and all feature the National Parliament building in Port Moresby on the front, with cultural themes and artefacts emblematic of the life and history of Papua New Guinea and its traditional cultures on the reverse.
On the new 100 kina, the images on the reverse denote transport and communications, and includes the SPARK Live TRUSPIN feature – the first time in a polymer note – integrated into the window and viewable on both sides of the window in reflection and transmission, each providing visual effects. All the notes are produced on Guardian polymer substrate with a window with the colour changing G-switch feature, IRIswitch and OVI among other security features.
The 15,000 riel note, pictured, issued by the National Bank of Cambodia to mark the anniversary of the King of Cambodia, HM Norodom Sihamoni secured the Best New Banknote at HSP Asia. The note symbolises the importance of the King, as the focal point of the whole Royal Household, for the newly reborn unity of the Cambodian people following decades of civil war and unrest. Based on an original in-house design, the banknote also signifies a technological milestone for the young Cambodian banknote industry, containing several unique features developed by the in-house design team in the capital Phnom Penh.
The note was printed by the Printing Works of the National Bank of Cambodia on Landqart’s Durasafe composite substrate – the first time this has been used in south-east Asia – and features include a see-through window and two half-windows.
The ornamentally shaped full window, with distinctly varying contours on the two sides of the note, contains an intaglio-embossed inkless feature (a floral pattern encompassing diversely directed lines) – while the two ornamental half-windows at the back are used to expose the 4mm-wide demetalised security thread with Cleartext, supplied by Hueck Folien.
Designed with social responsibility in mind, the note also has several highly tactile elements to aid recognition and authentication by the visually-impaired. Other features include a see-through image in perfect register, printed with three UV fluorescent inks, a gradual colour transition in intaglio, and two-colour serial numbering combining two different numbering inks.
The Best New Commemorative Banknote was from the Monetary Authority of Macau for its commemorative 20 patacas banknote, which was issued to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to China. Another version of the note has been issued by Banco Nacional Ultramarino. The reverse of both is the same, while the front features the HQs of the respective banks. The notes were produced by China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation. The main security features include a watermark (of the lotus flower), machine-readable colour shifting thread, SPARK® Live in the denomination numeral, IR and micro-perforation.
The awards were presented by the chairman of Reconnaissance International, Martyn White, on November 27.
