The Dutch firm Joh. Enschedé en zonen is auctioning off its machines due to the closing of the banknote printing department. It’s sad to see this venerable printer shuttered, but at least with the auction listings one can get an unprecedented look at the inner workings of a secretive industry.Read More…
According to a PressTV article dated 19 December 2016, a plane carrying 272 crates of 500-bolivar notes arrived in Venezuela from Stockholm, Sweden on 18 December. Each crate contains 50,000 notes, for a total of 13.6 units. Two more planes are expected to arrive soon, bringing the total to 60Read More…
According to reports, Dutch security printer Joh. Enschedé plans to quit banknote production due to overcapacity in the sector, and will instead focus on printing stamps and visa documents. Courtesy of Claudio Marana.Read More…
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal dated 31 October 2016, “Earlier this month, Venezuela’s central bank awarded Boston-based securities printer Crane Currency the largest part of a contract for new bill denominations needed to keep up with triple-digit inflation, according to people involved in contract negotiations.” CheckRead More…
B143a is the first “full circulation” note in the world to be printed on Durasafe, a paper-polymer-paper composite substrate produced by Landqart. It was honored as the Regional Banknote of the Year 2016 at Reconnaissance International’s High Security Printing Europe. Durasafe was previously used on Morocco’s commemorative 25-dirham note (B514)Read More…
According to an article on the Kuwait News Agency site dated 18 May 2015, the International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) awarded the Central Bank of Kuwait the 2015 International Award for Best Banknote issue for its sixth series of notes (B229a – B234a) issued 29 June 2014.”This is consideredRead More…
According to a press release dated 25 November 2014, security printer De La Rue’s profits fell 36%, to £18.1 million, in the six months ended 27 September, with revenue down by 8%, despite banknote printing volume up 4% to 2.7 billion notes. The company blamed “ongoing challenging market conditions” forRead More…
A Washington Post article dated 15 November 2014 details the allegations of bribery behind Austria’s banknote printing firm, Oesterreichische Banknoten-und Sicherheitsdruck, and its efforts to win bids to produce currency for Azerbaijan and Syria.Read More…
According to a press release dated 12 November 2014, Crane Currency and Bank Al Maghrib (Morocco’s central bank) have entered into a partnership for international banknote printing. “The partnership will enable the group to support the expansion of its paper money printing worldwide with the expertize of Dar As Sikkah,Read More…
According to an article in Korea Times dated 24 June 2014, Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. (KOMSCO) has seen its production volume halved over the past five years, and hopes to utilize excess capacity by obtaining contracts to print banknotes for other countries. Countries for whichRead More…