Interesting find on BEK journey ten.

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Have a look at the scan to see a raised square about 3/4" x 3/4" starting at about the center of Mc Donalds ear and up into his hair. This raised area was created when the security square was printed on the back of the note. Excessive pressure is my guess.

I have noticed a few pressure marks on some of these notes in the past but i don't think I've ever seen the perfect square.

If you purchase any of these notes and notice a few marks in the area be aware that they are caused by the printing process.

The scan does not show the raised area that well so you may have to refer to notes that you may have. Notice the line running down from the bottom of the 0 in 10.

Hmm... Interesting. I'd still like to see this in person. Please bring it with you to Torex if you think of it.

I agree with Sudzee.  They have been a common occurance on recent issues.  Most started appearing in the BEM,.... and going forward.  

Have a look at the scan to see a raised square about 3/4" x 3/4" starting at about the center of Mc Donalds ear and up into his hair. This raised area was created when the security square was printed on the back of the note. Excessive pressure is my guess.

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Excuse me, but what security square are we talking about? The only thing I see on he back of a $10 where the ear is, are the 2 children and the Veteran. Could you post a scan of the back of your BEK with the raised square showing the security thing?

Many of us have known about the security square for about three years so I thought it was common knowledge.

I just tried to get a picture of it but I can't get it to show up. Maybe someone else can give it a try.

Martin, if you have a UV light, you should be able to see it on any denomination above the $5. The  5/8" orange/pink flourescent square is centered just about on the tallest childs head.

The BoC has been using this security feature for at least ten years.

Here a numeric photo of this yellow square.  I took it using a yellow filter to block the blue lignt in excess capted by the chip of my camera.  I used a compact black light that you can find in any hardware store.  It fits in a standard 120V socket and give a very useful UV light to see any fluorescent ink on any note.

I've done a bit of Photoshop to render a more realistic view, but not perfect, since it was not my intention.  This fluorescent square in quite feeble and could be difficult to see.

I've noticed this yellow square few months ago and you find it on the backs of the Bird serie, but not on all (not the 5$ nte, nor the 10$, and even not on the first prefixes of the 20$ note.

OK, so the square exists, but it is faint under regular UV light, and it appears to be the same from one note to the next across series and denominations.

The faintness under standard UV light implies that it is reacting weakly to standard UV light, but that perhaps a different wavelength of light would make it glow brightly.

That still leaves us with why it appears to be the same on all notes, and what exactly it is or does.

Sudzee, all of the BEK insert notes I ever found, along with most of the regular notes they were found within had that line you mention.  Seems common. This yellow square thing is new to me, thank you copperpete for providing the pictures.

Hudson

I take note of the BWJM's suggestion and I'll try with  a short-wave UV lamp.  I'll give you the results tomorrow since I don't have access to this lamp for now.

This square is interesting because it's not mentionned in the standard security features known in the public.  But when our club had the speech about the counterfeiting and bogus notes from RCMP cops, they said that there was hidden security features in addition to what is publicly spread, for the simple reason that the officials can check these hidden features to ascertain the authenticity of notes.  You cannot imitate what you don't know to exists...

And I believe that this square is the first of these hidden security features to be known.  It's faintness is probably normal, and cannot be well seen with the usual UV detector used by the vendors and sellers in the commerce.  

To see this square, when you light it with an UV lamp,  make sure that there is not any direct normal light on it, preferably in a dark room (not necessarly a photograph's dark room, but you just leave the light off).  It's color is the same on all denominations, except on the 5$ note, where this square is not printed.

And why we should limits on UV light?  Infrared lamp can be used too...And maybe there is magnetic inks? or some other features ?

Thanks a lot Copperpete, I knew of that square on the birds serie, but I didn't see it on the journey serie. I've just checked with my UV lamp and its really faint, and I can't see it on my birds note anymore. I guess I need a new UV lamp.

Talking about hidden security features, can someone tell me why, on the back of the journey $10 the center of the white 0 is not the same purple tint (darker) as the surronding? It is also visible in the center of the 0 the the $50.

Excellent picture but the colour, to me, is a pinky/orange.

Hopefully someone could post a picture of the back of notes under infre-red light. Its very interesting to see an almost blank back except for left set of bars and the right serial number. My personal beleif is that the BoC is using high speed scanners to verify notes before destruction. We have also known about IR for a few years but were not able to openly discuss this security feature until IR detection units were noticed in some retail stores.

Martin,
I'm not exactly sure but I think the "0s" you mentioned show up under IR as well as 2 small squares at the right side of the back of the note. Maybe this will be verified if someone is able to post a good IR picture.

Gary

Man, I have got to get me one of those IR units that the stores use.

I've took a look to a note under a short-wave UV lamp, but nothing different was visible.  But some fluorescent markings visible under a longer wavelenght are much less visible (even disappears, as the yellow square).

To me, the tint of the quare is yellow.  Not a bright yellow, a dull yellow instead, quite faint, even under a strong black light.  I don't see any tint of the pinkish-orange that some others persons have reported.  Maybe a different perception of colors in some conditions is involved.

The only IR lamp I found is a heater lamp which give too much lignt to be useful) Can some one tell me what kind of IR lamp is necessary to see the markings that are supposedly visible?  And where I can find one?

If you're a CPMS member, check p6 of the March 2004 CPMS newsletter. The units illustrated and described in Don Roebuck's article are in use in various retail outlets. I have seen some at Canadian Tire stores and even a McDonalds near me, and the casino in Thunder Bay. I'm sure some retailers in your area use them.