In recent years Vietnam has been a go-to country for many of the world players in the technology, automotive, and fashion industries. It is now stepping into a new field – polymer banknote substrates and security features.

The National Bank of Poland (NBP) will issue a commemorative 20 zloty banknote in July to mark the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw uprising, a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate the city from German occupation.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has unveiled a new family of coins and banknotes denominated in Zimbabwe gold (expressed as ZiG), which replaces the preceding dollar notes at a rate of 1:2,498.7242. The RBZ asserts that Zimbabwe gold is a ‘structured currency’ pegged to and fully backed by a composite basket of foreign currencies and precious metals (mainly gold).

Last month, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System published an International Finance Discussion Paper on the demand for US banknotes at home and abroad. It was authored by Ruth Judson, a staff economist.

Industry custom and practice dictates that a new series of banknotes should be issued every 7-10 years. That span fluctuates depending on who is saying it (some say 5-7, others 10-12). We don’t know who established that nor how was it determined. As we couldn’t answer these questions, we set out to see whether this convention was being followed by the industry. And to determine if it is still appropriate.

The Central Bank of Suriname has introduced two new high denomination banknotes; the 200 and 500 Suriname dollars, showcasing advanced security and sustainable substrates.

The Regional Banknote and ID Document of the Year Awards form part of the industry’s High Security Printing (HSP) EMEA conference. This year’s awards were presented at a special ceremony during the conference dinner in Sofia on 5 March.

Banco Central República Argentina has confirmed that new 10,000 and 20,000 peso (ARS) notes will enter into circulation in June.

The National Bank of Ukraine has issued a new commemorative 50 hryvnia banknote entitled ‘Unity saves the world’ on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion.

First level features for public authentication have grown remarkably over the years. The key objective is to stop counterfeits at the first pass. A solid combination of printed and substrate embedded features is available, and continues to grow.