Durasafe banknotes

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For those of you interested in developments in banknote technology, in late December Morocco issued world's first banknote printed on the new Durasafe hybrid substrate. The 25 dirhams (US$3) banknote commemorates 25 years of banknote printing at the Moroccan State Printing Works. 4.2 million banknotes were issued, of which 200,000 are specially packaged for collectors.

Durasafe is produced by Vancouver-based Fortress Paper at its Landqart mill in Switzerland. Here is the press release: http://www.fortresspaper.com/images/pdfs/Fortress%20Paper%20Press%20Release%20Dec%2018%202012.pdf

The Durasafe substrate is a layer of transparent plastic sandwiched between two layers of paper. Its key security features are transparent and one-sided windows.

This year, two more Durasafe banknotes will be issued, one in Africa, the other in Eastern Europe. In 2015, Switzerland will issue its new banknote series, also on Durasafe.

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Very interesting. Thanks for posting this. Good to see a Cdn. Company is printing these. Do you think the technology will grow?

Finally some competition for guardian. Do you think BOC will ever consider the different substrate in the future from a Canadian company?

Finally some competition for guardian. Do you think BOC will ever consider the different substrate in the future from a Canadian company?

Very interesting. Thanks for posting this. Good to see a Cdn. Company is printing these. Do you think the technology will grow?

There is actually quite a variety of substrates and security features available now, it's an exciting time for banknote collectors.

There is already competition for Guardian, a new polymer substrate called Flexycoin, recently introduced by De La Rue.

There is also another hybrid substrate introduced recently by Louisenthal, called Hybrid (http://louisenthal-production.s3.amazonaws.com/2010/08/25/Hybrid_E-b3d7c556.pdf). This substrate is the opposite of Durasafe, a sheet of paper protected on both sides by thin plastic layers. Two low-denomination banknotes have been issued so far, in Swaziland and Jamaica.

Another technology involves including transparent windows in paper banknotes by making holes and covering them with thin polymer bands or threads. These banknotes are also referred to as hybrid. Two large banknote paper producers and printers have their own security threads: Optiks from De La Rue and Varifeye from Giesecke and Devrient. These threads have been used primarily in high-denomination banknotes over last 5-7 years, but the technology does not seem to be widely accepted, likely due to low durability of the notes.

Visit www.polymernotes.org to see all polymer and hybrid notes issued until now.

I think Durasafe has a future, this substrate combines durability and security of polymer notes and the texture of paper notes. In addition, complex security threads can be embedded. Of course, only actual banknote circulation will show how long these notes last.