Innovation was to the fore in this year's Excellence in Currency Awards, which were presented at the Currency Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina on May. The awards are organised by IACA (the International Association of Currency Affairs) and sponsored by Currency News.

The prestigious award for Best New Banknote Series went to Scotland's Clydesdale Bank, as did the award for Best Currency Education Program (the first time any organisation has won more than one award).

In another first, there was a tie for the winner of the Best Currency Website, which went jointly to the European Central Bank and the Central Bank of Chile.

Royal Canadian Mint received the award for Best New Coin Series for its Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 Coin Collection.

The Best New Currency Feature was won by Arjowiggins Security for Pixel Watermark.

Roland Tornare, formerly of the Swiss National Bank, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Read more about the winners of the Excellence in Currency Awards