Currency News Apr 10

CONTENTSWorld’s Youngest Mint Opens ItsDoors 1

India Lays Foundations for New Mill 1

Comment: Death by a ThousandCuts 2

Securency Releases and Acts onReport into Foreign Agents 3

US Unveils New $100 Note 3

Company and Market Round-Up 4

Growth for Oberthur 5

2010 Excellence in Currency Awards 5

People in the News 5

European Commission Clarifies Legal Status of the Euro 6

Note and Coin News 6

UK Report Reveals Cash inDecline 7

Banknote Processing – the NextChapter from G&D 8

RELIEF Security Screens – a NewDimension to Intaglio 9

Banknote of the Month: Chile Mixes and Matches for its New Series 10

Five Years Ago 11

Conference Diary 11

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April 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4

World’s Youngest MintOpens its Doors

India Lays Foundationsfor New Mill

Continued on page 12

Continued on page 7

The Costa Rican government and theBanco Central de Costa Rica have inau-gurated the new ‘Mint of Costa Rica’,the first in this country since 1949 andthe only one in Central America. Theopening ceremony was attended by anumber of dignitaries, including JoséEduardo Sibaja, Vice Minister ofEconomy, Urs Brönnimann from theSwiss embassy, Roy González, manager ofthe central bank and MonsignorFrancisco Ulloa, Bishop of Cartago.

The history of coinage in Costa Ricadates back to 1828, when the first mintopened following the country’s inde-pendence from Spain. Coins – first the

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Costa Rican Peso and, after 1896, theCosta Rican Colón - were minted for thenext 100 years, although production suf-fered from a constant shortage of raw

India’s plans to become self-sufficient inpaper production came a step closerrecently with a ceremony to lay the foun-dation stone for a new banknote papermill at Mysore, which is also home toone of the country’s four printworks.The mill will be a joint venture betweenthe country’s two banknote producers,government-owned Security Printingand Minting Corporation of India(SPMCI) and Bharatiya Reserve BankNote Mudran, a subsidiary of theReserve Bank of India (RBI). The newmill will take around three years to build,at a cost of around Rs 15 billion(US$336m).

The foundation stone was laid by theRBI governor, D Subbarao, who took theopportunity to provide an update onplans for a polymer note for the country.1 billion Rs 10 notes will be issued soon

on polymer, he said, initially in five cities(Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Mysore, Shimlaand Kochi) which have been chosen fortheir climactic diversity. A cost-benefitcalculation will be made following thispilot, to determine whether the countryshould embark on polymer on a long-term basis.

He also stated that ‘producing ourown paper is decidedly cheaper, and acheck against counterfeiting. India’sdemand for banknote paper – 18,000tonnes per year – is huge in internation-al terms, and on the supply side there arejust 3-4 large producers. This situationexposes us to vulnerabilities of a suppli-ers’ market in terms of price, quantityand timelines, something that we shouldavoid or minimise’.

The juxtaposition of the foundation

The Swiss and Costa Rican chairmen, Daniel Sheffer and JoséAntonio Guilá, holding the future of the Mint in their hands

CommentApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


Death by a Thousand CutsThe recent report by the Payments Council – the bodyresponsible for setting the strategy for payments in the UK- should be a wake-up call to us all in the currency industry.Although the report covers the UK only, it is a trend that istypical of payment systems in many countries around theworld. In summary, it documents a decline in the use of cashin the last decade and forecasts a further decline, detailingchanges that have been taking place gradually, but steadily.Is this a case of ‘death by a thousand cuts?’ And, if so, isthere anything we can do about it?

The key statistics show that between 1999 and 2009 thenumber of transactions in cash declined from 73% to 59%and by 2018 the number is predicted to have fallen to 45%.During the same period, debit card spending increased by306% and is forecast to increase by a further 86% by 2018,when one in four of all transactions will be by debit card,compared with one in 20 in 1999.

But the debit card is not the onlythreat to cash – there are others, well-established, such as credit/charge cards,cheques, direct debits and credits andthe growth of internet shopping, which virtually precludesthe use of cash. We need not worry about cheques –their useis declining rapidly. Nor about credit and charge cards,which have mainly displaced cheques as the medium forhigh value transactions. But in place of those, there are newthreats that are no longer just on the horizon– namely pre-paid cards, mobile payments and contactless transactions.Convenient and Cost-Effective

The prepaid card market is still in its infancy. There aretwo types – ‘open-loop’ for face-to-face or online retailersand ‘closed loop’, linked to a single or limited number ofretailers. The latter in particular are being adopted bytransport systems around the world because they are con-venient for the public and apparently cost-effective for thetransport authorities.

Mobile payments – where a mobile device plays an inte-gral role in a financial transaction - are also in their infancybut some of these transactions are direct substitutes forcash. This form of payment is having the most impact indeveloping countries, where people without access to bank-ing services are able to make payments by mobile phone(see CN Vol 8, No 3). Even though it is still early days forthis type of transaction, its upgrade is already conceived –contactless functionality. Given the ubiquity of mobilephones, the potential of these for payments both large andsmall is frighteningly obvious.

Some banks are making significant progress with con-tactless cards - by the end of 2009 in the UK, there were 7.8million contactless debit and credit cards issued and 22,500terminals capable of accepting contactless transactions. Onein six cardholders in the UK will have a contactless card bythe end of 2010. The Payments Council believes that con-

tactless cards could become usable for lower value transac-tions in many retailers and, given that 75% of cash transac-tions in the UK are below £10, the long term potential forsuch cards is considerable - and with it the threat to cash.

We can see that cash is up against some very strong com-mercial interests – financial institutions and, increasingly,mobile communications companies, all promoting alterna-tives to cash. So what is our industry doing in return?Indeed, what can our industry do in return? The answerappears to be precious little – in a concerted matter at least.

Central banks, who are supposed to be transaction-typeneutral, but know full well the value of cash for seigniorage,have made major efforts to ensure their banknotes aresecure from counterfeiting and so remain attractive for thepublic to use.

Suppliers have developed new security features anddurable substrates to reduce counter-feiting and banknote costs. The ATMhas had a major impact on the industryin making cash readily available.Developers of processing and cash man-

agement solutions are improving the availability of goodquality and timely cash, whilst driving down the costs of cir-culation and distribution. Defending our Turf

However, the point is (and it is a point we have madeseveral times before), there is no one body representing andpromoting cash. Any promotion is incidental and not direct-ed against the competition. We hear daily via the media whywe should have this card or that financial product. And weare becoming desensitised to the constant refrain that cashis expensive, insecure, unsafe and out of date. What wedon’t hear is why we should use cash in preference to thealternatives. And that is because it is our industry thatshould be making this case, and it isn’t.

If we don’t defend our turf, no one else will. The centralbanks have a lot to lose but their hands are tied by neutral-ity, so it falls to the commercial companies on all sides of thecurrency industry to get together, discuss what can be done,develop an action plan and put it into place.

The forthcoming Currency Conference offers the idealopportunity for debate on this issue and to (hopefully) agreea way forward to promote our product. We cannot work onthe assumption that the wider public knows that ‘Cash isKing’.

At the same time, we should probably be coming up witha new mantra. There aren’t that many kings, or queens forthat matter, around anymore, and those that remain are byand large symbolic throwbacks to a bygone age. Do we wantcash going the same way?

A new message is required. And a new consensus andcampaign by the industry to get this message out.

We are becoming desensitised to theconstant refrain that cash is expensive,

insecure, unsafe and out of date

Company NewsApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


Securency Releases and Acts onReport into Foreign AgentsOne of two reports into the allegations byThe Age newspaper in Melbourne ofimproper payments of commissions to, anduse of, foreign agents by Securency hasnow been released. Following these allega-tions, Dr Bob Rankin, Chairman of theBoard of Securency and Assistant Governorof its part-owner, the Reserve Bank ofAustralia, asked the Australian FederalPolice to investigate. KMPG was also com-missioned to undertake an independentevaluation of the policies and proceduresin place governing the use of agents andthe company’s compliance with thesedirectives (see CN Vol 7, No 6). Securencyhas now published the latter report.

The report found that the companydid seek to have adequate policies and pro-cedures in place for dealing with the riskassociated with the use of agents, and con-sistently sought legal advice, but that man-agement did not fully implement thesepolicies in all respects. In relation to theappointment of agents, KPMG concludedthat the advice from the company’s legaladvisors was in some cases not fully fol-

lowed by management and there was a lackof documentation to show compliance withthe company’s agent appointment proce-dures. It also concluded that managementdid not fully implement the advicereceived from its legal advisors in monitor-ing its agent activities and compliance withthe terms of its agency agreements.

KPMG further stated that manage-ment did not have a formal process torespond to concerns or allegations relatingto the activities of its agents. As a result,the concerns raised by a former employeein 2007 about the risk of bribery and cor-ruption were addressed in a manner whichlacked transparency. Specifically, manage-ment did not bring these allegations to theattention of the Board.

KPMG also determined that from2003 to 2009 the company made paymentsto former and current agents to the valueof A$47.5m while Securency’s total rev-enue subject to the payment of commis-sion was A$361.4m. It noted that, again,management did not follow in all respectsadvice from the company’s legal advisors

with respect to recording payments andapplying higher levels of due diligencewhen making payments into agents’ bankaccounts in jurisdictions outside theircountry of residence.

Based on its findings, KPMG has made12 recommendations to the SecurencyBoard, which it has agreed to implement infull.

Securency also announced that manag-ing director Myles Curtis and companysecretary John Ellery, who had stood asidefrom their positions in November 2009(see CN Vol 7, No 11) have both left thecompany. Securency has initiated a globalsearch for a new chief executive, which itsays could take several months. In themeantime, Mike Thomas has beenappointed interim Chief Operating Officerwhile Bob Rankin continues in the role ofActing Chief Executive.

The investigation by the AustralianFederal Police continues in Australia,meanwhile, and in foreign countries in con-junction with local police.

US Unveils New $100 Note The design of the long-awaited new$100 bill has been launched at a cere-mony in the Department of TreasuryCash Room, attended by officials fromthe Treasury, the Federal Reserve andthe US Secret Service. According tothe Bureau of Engraving and Printing,‘the unveiling of the $100 note is thefirst step in a global multi-governmentagency public education program to edu-cate those who use the $100 note about itschanges before it begins circulating.’

The new note is the latest, and last, inthe current series and, while it retains thetraditional look of US currency, it is themost colourful yet, with two striking newfeatures.

One is the 3.5mm wide blue Motion®windowed security thread, which sits tothe right of the portrait of BenjaminFranklin, and in which images of bellsinterchange with the denominationnumeral when the note is tilted.

The other is the ‘Bell in the Inkwell’,an image printed in OVI® so that the bellchanges from copper to green when thenote is tilted, giving it the effect of appear-ing and disappearing within the copperinkwell. OVI has also been used for thenumerals, which are printed prominentlyon the front and reverse of the note.

The new $100 was originally due to beissued in 2008. However, more immediateproblems with counterfeit $5 notes (whichwere being bleached and overprinted withimages from the higher denominations,typically the $100) led to the new design

for this taking precedence. The delayalso allowed more time for the devel-opment and trialling of the new $100features. Production of each note nowcosts 11.8 cents, compared with 8cents for the notes it supersedes.

The $100 note has been usedincreasingly in both US and aroundthe world during the credit crunch as

a convenient and reliable store of wealth.There are approximately 6.5 billion of theold design $100 notes in circulation and itis estimated that two thirds of these are inuse outside the country. As per USTreasury policy, they will remain legal ten-der indefinitely.

The need to educate users around theworld is possibly a reason behind the factthat the note will not go into circulationuntil February 2011. Even so, ten monthsis an unusually long period of timebetween the unveiling of a new design andits introduction.

Company & Market Round-UpApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


Expansionfor HueckFolienHueck Folien, a European-based supplierof security features for currency and otherhigh security documents, has opened anew sales office in Hong Kong to servicethe rapidly-growing Asian market. It hasalready supplied features for Asian curren-cies for several years but says that it was alogical step to launch a local sales sub-sidiary to respond to customers morequickly. The main focus of its sales activi-ties will be the export of high tech solu-tions for banknotes, value documents andpassports.

Heading up the office is RegionalSales Director Ueli Tschupp-Lambert,who is a German-speaking European butwho grew up in Asia since 1971 and suc-cessfully managed various security proj-ects in the region before joining HueckFolien at the start of the year.

New Headat GulfMonetaryCouncilThe Governor of the Saudi ArabianMonetary Agency (SAMA), MuhammedAl-Jasser, has been unanimously elected asthe first chairman of the GCC MonetaryCouncil. The council will serve as the pre-cursor to a regional central bank in the lat-

ArjowigginsParent Backin ProfitSequana, the holding company of banknoteand security papermaker Arjowiggins, hasannounced net profits of €20 million forthe calendar year 2009, compared with aloss of €400m the previous year, despite areduction in sales of 15.6% to €4.08 billion.According to the Group, this was due tocost reductions, productivity gains and thedivestment of non-strategic loss-makingcompanies.

Sequana has moved from a holding toan operations company, with Arjowigginsnow one of its two major business units.This produces not only banknote and secu-rity paper but technical and communica-tions grades of paper as well. It had sales of

Perum PeruriBranchesOutState-owned Indonesian security printerPT Perum Peruri has received loans of Rp626 billion ($68.2m) to help finance anexpansion of its production capacity as itseeks to reach new markets for banknotes,securities papers and passports. The com-pany is also planning to acquire the papercompany PN Kertas Padalarang, and toform an internet-security certificationjoint venture by the end of the year.

According to Peruri president directorJunino Jahja, the company’s capacity lastyear was 6.6 billion banknotes, while thisyear demand is projected at 7.2 billion.Some of the investment will go on buildingthe required additional capacity for a fur-ther 700 million notes. ‘To expand thebusiness we are also planning to acquire apaper company to provide raw material forbank notes and securities,’ he said.Indonesia currently imports all its bank-note paper.

In addition to meeting domesticdemand, Peruri is setting its sights onbecoming a regional player in the market –Singapore and Malaysia both being cited aspotential customers. The company hasrecently secured contracts to print 100million notes for Nepal and mint 32 mil-lion coins for Mauritania.

GardaCompletesRefinancingGarda World Security Corporation hasannounced that it has successfully refi-nanced its existing debt with a combina-tion of new bank loans and long term unse-cured financing. As a result, it expects tosave approximately C$15 million in financ-ing expenses during the first 12 months ofthe current year. .

The new capital structure consists of athree-year term loan of C$340m and theissuance of 9.75% senior unsecured notesof US$250m and C$75m, due 2017. Netproceeds will be used to repay all bankfacilities and to terminate interest rateswap agreements.

Of all the suppliers in the cash indus-try, Garda was hit hardest by the creditcrunch of 2008, having borrowed exten-sively to finance a series of acquisitionsover the preceding year that propelled it tothe one of the leading suppliers of securityservices and cash logistics in the world. Butrefinancing costs hit it hard and, by theend of 2008, over 90% had been wiped offits value (half of this in one day alone). Ithas subsequently made a remarkablerecovery, and is one of the best performersin Currency News’ periodic Industry Watchof listed companies.

€1.5 billion in 2009, down by 15.32% fromthe previous year. EBITDA at €128m wasup 13.2%

Of the five divisions withinArjowiggins, only Banknote and SecurityPapers saw sales increase, by 3.5% to€291m. EBITDA for the division was up6.6% to €48m.

Late last year Sequana abandonedplans to sell off the security paper busi-ness, which it had previously stated was‘non-strategic’, announcing instead that itoffered excellent long-term visibility andwould help bolster the group’s financialstructure.

est step toward a unified Gulf currencyand greater economic integration. BahrainCentral Bank Governor, MuhammedRasheed Al-Maraj, was chosen as deputychairman.

The monetary council will lay thefoundations for a regional central bank andprepare the launch of the single currency.But Al-Jasser said people should not havehigh expectations, explaining that thecouncil’s first task is to establish the GCCCentral Bank.

‘Our priority will be to draw up thelegal and organizational framework for theCentral Bank and this will be done in coor-dination with the central banks or mone-tary agencies of the member countries’ hesaid on his appointment.

Preparations for the issuance of bank-notes and coins for the single currencywould be developed by the GCC bank. Notimeframe for the introduction of the sin-gle currency has been given, but Al-Jasserstated that it would happen ‘soon’.

In the NewsApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


2010 Excellence in Currency Awards The International Association of CurrencyAffairs (IACA) has announced the short-listed nominations for the ‘2010Excellence in Currency Awards.’ Theawards, which are sponsored by CurrencyNews, are being made for the best newbanknote, coin, currency feature, publiceducation program and central bank web-site, as well as a Lifetime AchievementAward. This year there were insufficientnominations for best new product or inno-vation, so those submitted will be heldover to 2011.

The shortlisted nominations havebeen voted on by IACA members, and thewinners will be announced at the GalaDinner of the Currency Conference, which

takes place in Buenos Aires next month. The shortlist is as follows:

Best New Banknote or Series:• Clydesdale Bank’s New Series • Central Bank of Turkey New

Series • Central Bank of Armenia 100, 000

Dram Best New Coin or Series:• Vancouver 2010 Olympic Quarters • Reserve Bank of Fiji’s New Coin

Series• Central Bank of Turkey New SeriesBest New Currency Feature: • Arjowiggins Security – Pixel Watermark• De La Rue – Depth Image• Giesecke & Devrient - Varifeye Magic

People in the NewsThe head of the National Bank of PolandSlawomir Skrzypek, was one of 96 peo-ple killed when the Polish President’splane crashed in Russia on April 10. Aneconomist and former Deputy Mayor ofWarsaw, he was appointed President ofthe Bank in January 2007. Following hisdeath, Piotr Wiesiolek, a deputy gover-nor, has temporarily assumed the gover-norship.

Adolf Kuhl, former technical director ofOrell Füssli, has died. He became anintaglio printer at an early age, and hishands-on experience of intaglio andknowledge of banknote printing was aninstrumental factor in the decision by theSwiss National Bank in 1976 to have all

Swiss notes printed by the company. Healso helped played a key role in the devel-opment of the Kinegram. He retired asTechnical Director aged 62, and spent afurther six years as advisor to the SNB.

One of the pioneers of holography,Hamish Shearer, has died. Untilrecently Director of Special Projects forhologram manufacturer OpSec, he helpedput holography on the map when thecompany he created – AppliedHolographics (subsequently renamedOpSec after acquiring the latter in 1999)was listed on the London Stock Exchangein 1983. Under his technical leadership,the company achieved many firsts,including dot matrix holograms, holo-

graphic windowed thread for banknotesand wide web high speed embossing ofsecurity foils.

Dr Yuvraj Khatiwada has beenappointed Governor of Nepal RastraBank, replacing Bijaya Nath Bhattaraiwho has retired.

Patrice Rullier, Director of OberthurCash Protection, has been electedChairman of EURICPA (EuropeanIntelligent Cash Protection Association)– which represents the leading Europeanmanufacturers of intelligent solutions forsecure cash transportation and storage.

Charles Jung Sr, executive vice presi-dent of Nautilus Hyosung, has beennamed president and CEO of NautilusHyosung America Inc.

Best Public Education Program:• Clydesdale Bank • National Bank of Denmark • Central Bank of Turkey Best Currency Website: • European Central Bank • Central Bank of Chile • Monetary Authority of Singapore

Candidates for the LifetimeAchievement Award are nominated by theindustry and the winner is decided byIACA’s Board of Director. Previous winnersin this category are Tom Ferguson, formerDirector of the Bureau of Engraving andPrinting, and Antti Heinonen, formerDirector of Banknotes at the EuropeanCentral Bank.

Growth for OberthurOberthur Technologies has shown a smallincrease in revenue for the year in itsrecently announced results. Sales of€904.6m were up 2.5% over 2008. EBIT-DA was up 12.8% to €132.m. Currentoperating income grew by nearly 6% to€92.2m. Net income was €49.2m, a 34.3%increase on 2008’s figure.

Oberthur’s Card Systems businessaccounted for €695.1m of sales (nearly77% of the total). Fiduciary printing,including banknotes, generated sales of

€108.2m (12%) The Identity businessaccounted for €85m in sales (9.4%) andthe cash protection business €16.4m(1.8%).

According to the company, in a diffi-cult macro-economic context, 2009 was ayear in which it consolidated its activities.‘This global performance is noteworthyand confirms the ability of our activities toresist to the effects of the business cycles,commented CEO Thomas Savare. It ispredicting further growth in 2010 despite

‘reduced visibility’, particularly in itsIdentity business.

Oberthur also announced that itsholding company, François-CharlesOberthur Fiduciaire (FCOF), hasstrengthened its equity with the capitalinvestment of an 8% stockholding bySOFINA, an investment holding companylisted on the Brussels Stock Exchange.SOFINA will be appointing two membersto the Boards of FCOF and OberthurTechnologies.

Payment NewsApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


• The BermudaMonetary Authorityhas been awarded theInternational BankNote Society (IBNS)2010 Banknote of theYear Award for its $2note, issued as part ofa new series in 2009.According to themembers of theIBNS Board, whochose the winning note from a list ofnine, the factors that made it stand outinclude an appealing and well-blendedcombination of colours, an attractivepresentation of images and an interestingarray of security features, despite its lowvalue.

The note was produced by De LaRue – and is its third winner in as manyyears. Last year, the Samoan 20 Tala notewon the award, while the year before itwas the Bank of Scotland’s new £50.

• The Swedish central bank SverigesRiksbank is working on designs for a new

respectively, cost 30 cents to produce.The Loonie comprises a bronze platednickel alloy. The Toonie is made from apure nickel ring surrounding a copperalloy centre. In future, the main compo-sition of both will be steel, and they willbe made using Royal Canadian Mint’smulti-ply plating technology which hasbeen used for the lower denominationcoins since 2000. The new $1 and $2coins will go into circulation in 2011.

• The Central Bank of Swaziland hasannounced that it will begin upgradingits entire note series this summer, start-ing with the 100 Lilangeni note, thencontinuing with the other denominations– the 10, 20, 50, and 200 Emalangenis –at the rate of one every six months.According to the Bank, the upgrade isdue to the fact that the existing portraitof His Majesty King Mswati III is outdat-ed, while banknote durability and securi-ty technology has advanced significantlysince the issuing of the current series ofnotes in 1999.

banknote and coins series, the issue ofwhich will start with a new 50 Krona notein 2013, with the other denominationsintroduced over the course of the follow-ing two years. Plans are also underway toissue a 2 Krona coin and introduce a new200 Krona note. The replacement of the20 Krona note with a coin is also underconsideration.

• The Bank of Ghana is introducing anew 2 Cedi next month in response tothe need for an intermediary notebetween the 1 and 5 Cedis. The decisioncame after a review of the cash cycle,conducted by the Bank in 2009 followingthe redenomination of the currency in2007. This indicated that pressure on the1 Cedi was resulting in notes circulating,and wearing out, too fast.

• In addition to switching to polymerfor its banknotes, Canada is also changingthe composition of the metals in its highdenomination coins, with plans to saveC$15m in the process. The $1 and $2coins, known as the ‘Loonie’ and ‘Toonie’

Note and Coin News

Legal Status of the EuroThe legal tender status of euro banknotesis laid down by Article 128 of the Treaty onthe Functioning of the European Union.Despite this, due to ‘some uncertainty ateuro level with regards to the scope of legaltender and the consequences thereof ’, theEuropean Commission has published adraft Recommendation, based on a reportprepared by a working group comprisingrepresentatives from Ministries of Financeand National Central Banks of the euroarea. The Commission will assess its imple-mentation in three years and examinewhether regulatory measures are needed.

First and foremost it has defined ‘LegalTender’ which states that, where a pay-ment obligation exists, the legal tender ofeuro banknotes and coins should implymandatory acceptance, acceptance at fullface value and power to discharge form pay-ment obligations (by tendering eurobanknotes and coins).

In retail transactions, it states that theacceptance of euro banknotes and coins as ameans of payment should be the rule and a

refusal should be possible only if groundedon the ‘good faith principle’, eg. the retail-er having no change available. It furtherstates that high denomination banknotesshould be accepted as a means of paymentin retail transactions with refusal only pos-sible on the same principle, eg. in this caseif the face value of the banknote tenderedis disproportionate to the amount owed.The refusal of cash payments cannot bepermanent, which would be contrary to theRecommendation and to the very conceptof legal tender. By this definition, a sign ina shop saying €200 and €500 banknotes arenot accepted is clear evidence of the per-manent nature of the refusal. Also, retailerscannot impose surcharges on the use ofeuro banknotes and coins.

The Recommendation also deals withthe issue of banknotes stained byIntelligent Banknote NeutralisationSystems (IBNS), stating ‘Even ifbanknotes stained with security ink arelegal tender, member states should commu-nicate actively towards stakeholders

(banks, retailers, general public) that theymust be brought back to national centralbanks as it is likely that they are the prod-uct of a theft.’ It does not, however, makeclear whether the stakeholder will be reim-bursed - a crucial point. But it does indi-cate that communications on stained eurobanknotes should be enhanced.

Destruction and mutilation is also pre-scribed. Member states should neither pro-hibit nor penalise the total destruction ofsmall quantities of euro banknotes or coinsby individuals, but they should prohibitunauthorised destruction of large quanti-ties.

Finally, with regard to coins, theRecommendation indicates that the deci-sion to destroy fit euro circulation coinsshould not belong to any national authorityin isolation. Further, new rounding regimesshould not be adopted by member states,and where rounding to the nearest 5 centsis in place, 1 and 2 euro cent coins mustremain legal tender.

Payment NewsApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 43 Currency News |


ceremony for a new paper mill with theannouncement about plans for polymerseems a little incongruous. By the timethe polymer trials have been completedand the results analysed, which shouldtake 2-3 years for a statistically-soundresult, the refurbishment of the mill atHoshangabad (owned by SPMCI) will bewell on its way or complete, adding 4,000tonnes. The capacity at the Mysore millwill be at least 6,500 tonnes – or doublethat if two machines are installed. Thisnew paper capacity will not leave muchroom for polymer.

Furthermore, the additional capacitycoming on stream from commercial sup-pliers Louisenthal and Landqart, not to

mention Perum Peruri’s plans to expandinto banknote paper and reports thatGoznak, too, may be adding substantialnew capacity, all indicate that the cur-rent under-capacity in the market is like-ly to be reversed in the coming years. Ifso, the resulting buyer’s market willreduce any potential exposure to longlead times and will inevitably bring downprices, making the decision to outsourcepaper logical, on financial grounds atleast.

In the meantime, one of the abovecompanies, Louisenthal, has announcedthat its Hybrid™ substrate has qualifiedfor the polymer trial, following extensivetesting by the RBI. The Pre-Qualification Tender Notice, issued ear-

lier this month, specified single or multi-layered substrates with at least one layerof plastic material, as opposed to poly-mer alone. Hybrid is a combination of aprotective polyester film around a cottonfibre core which maintains the recog-nised touch and feel of a banknote, and,says the company, combines the publicacceptance and security of paper withthe durability of polymer. According toLouisenthal, this acceptance representsa significant milestone and now, for thefirst time, offers central banks aroundthe world an alternative to the existing100% polymer substrate produced bySecurency.

India Lays Foundations...cont

UK Report Reveals Cash in Decline A new report from the PaymentsCouncil (The Way We Pay 2010) showsthat a payments revolution occurred inthe ‘Noughties’ in the UK, which looksset to continue over the next decade.The past ten years not only saw the riseof internet banking and shopping, butalso the replacement of cheque andcash transaction with cards, particularlydebit cards. Cash Wages Drop

According to the report, a decadeago one in eight workers still got paidcash-in-hand. By 2009 it was just one in20, and by 2019 will be one in 50. Amuch bigger switch from cash has takenplace in state benefit payments: tenyears ago, 87% of benefits and pensionswere paid in cash; today, 79% are paiddirectly into bank accounts.

Although cash still looks popular –accounting for six in every ten transac-tions – almost 80% were for less than£10. In five years time, the report pre-dicts, cash transactions will representless than half the total for the first time.

Furthermore, the value of cash usedhas risen only 7% in the last ten years,while overall consumer spending hasdoubled. If there had not been themove to other payments such as cards,banknotes worth an extra £102 billionwould have been required each year tomeet the UK’s spending needs today,compared to ten years ago, which

equates to £2,050 more for each adultper year. Payments in pubs and clubswere used to demonstrate this point. In1999, nine out of ten pints of beer werebought with cash. Now only 40% of pubspending involves cash, with chip &PIN, primarily on debit cards, account-ing for more than half of all spending.

Cash is not the only payments sys-tem to suffer - cheque usage has beenfalling since 1990 and just 0.8% of retailtransactions are now made by cheques(in any case, the Payments Council hasset 2018 as the target for cheques to bephased out altogether). Payment Workhorse

Cards, meanwhile, have flourished.Not credit cards, usage of which hasfallen in real terms from 2005, but debitcards, which have become the paymentworkhorse. Spending with such cardshas increased fourfold in ten years -they will be used six billion times this

year. Increasingly debit cards havetaken over both higher value credit cardpayments, and lower value cash pay-ments. By 2018, one in four of all trans-actions will be on a debit card, up fromjust one in 20 ten years ago.

The report noted that this couldprove a conservative forecast as the con-tactless revolution gathers pace. Chip &PIN was thought to be a major factor inthe growth in debit card use throughspeeding up transactions - small itemscan be bought with a card now there areno fiddly bits of paper and time-con-suming signatures. It was noted that‘contactless payment for small purchas-es has the potential to drive debit cardusage even higher - with 18 billion cashtransactions less than £15, there is ahuge opportunity to replace billions ofthese with a quick swipe past a cardreader.’

* This figure was reached prior to the decision, in late 2009, to phase out cheques

** Faster Payments is a service set up in 2008 to speed up internet and phone payments

1999 2009 2018Wages paid in cash 1 in 8 1 in 20 1 in 50

Transactions using cash 73% 59% 45%

Cash spending in pubs 90% 40% 25%

Debit card spending £65bn £264bn £490bn

Personal transactions using cheques 6% 2% 0.8%*

Faster Payments N/A 294m 836m**

Technology NewsApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


Banknote Processing – the NextChapter from G&D

The BPS M7 is a modular medium-sizedsorting system that processes up to 120,000notes per hour and was designed as the suc-cessor to the BPS 1000, but with new sen-sors, feed and transport systems, operatorinterfaces and software features.

At the time, the company claimed thatthe BPS M7 would deliver 25% improve-ments in productivity and, according toWintergerst, one year on this has proved tobe the case. And while it is too early toassess whether the system can deliver onreducing the overall cost of ownershipthrough, for example, lower parts consump-tion and remote servicing, the new curren-cy adaptation tools that make up part of thiscalculation are working extremely well,with the changes to the sensors requiredeach time a new note, series or counterfeitfeature is introduced running smoothly andtaking a fraction of the time they didbefore. Common Principles

The new system has also proved verystable – with few of the teething problemsnormally associated with the launch of acompletely new product. It has sold well sofar in all its target markets – central banks,commercial banks and CIT companies andthis, said Wintergest, augurs well for theroll-out of other systems in the new range.All are based on the same principles andarchitecture, and use the same software andsensor technology, as the BPS M7. The nextin line will be the BPS C4 – the successor tothe desktop system BPS 200 – later thisyear.

Three other launches will take place inthe meantime, two of them at the CurrencyConference. One is a new line of banknotedestruction systems, which will be coveredmore fully in the next issue. The other is arelaunch of the company’s sensor suite,which lies at the heart of its processing sys-tems, conforms to all current authentica-tion and fitness frameworks and is designed

to deliver consistent performance in termsof denomination identification, authentici-ty and condition across the cash cycle. New Sensors

The suite comprises three groups ofsensors– NotaMaster, NotaScan and CashRay.The first is intended for sorting systemsused in printworks for quality inspectionpurposes and to ensure that all notes putinto circulation will be identical and readyfor a fully-automated cash cycle, therebyavoiding any problems with false rejectsdownstream. NotaMaster can also be usedfor ultimate authenticity detection in thecash centres of central banks.

The second, NotaScan, is designed forsorting systems used by central and com-mercial banks and cash centres to processnotes in circulation. There are threeoptions with the NotaScan family.

These include NotaScan Image, whichscans the full face of each note on bothsides and optically identifies and evaluatesfeatures, fitness and serial numbers.

Then there is the NotaScan Profile thick-ness detector (formerly known as DIS 2).This measures the profile of each note,identifying the presences of taped or tornnotes, which are by definition unfit and, inthe case of the former, quite possibly coun-terfeit, and gauges the grammage of thesubstrate.

And finally is NotaScan Ink – a new sen-sor for security inks that verifies the specialcharacteristics of these and the signals theyemit from within specific boundaries with-in the notes.

The third group, CashRay, is a compact,multifunctional family of sensors designedfor easy integration in compact note sortingsystems, and for use as an OEM componentfor customers who produce their own spe-cific banknote automation equipment.Machine Intuition

Collectively, according to Wintergerst,these sensors are designed to make identi-

fication of fit, unfit and suspect notes asintuitive and as close to the human experi-ence as possible. ‘Machines can sometimesbe dumb’, he said. ‘But people aren’t. Thenew sensors are the closest thing there is tohuman detection.’

One of the consequences of thebreadth and scope of the new sensor suite isthe computer processing capacity required,with the data from each note scannedequivalent to the contents of a DVD.According to the company, the decision torebuild the whole family of note sorting sys-tems from the ground up was in large partto accommodate the additional sensorcapacity, so that virtually all the physicaland optical properties of each note can bescanned and analysed without any loss ofprocessing speed. New Cash Solution

The other product launch is a new soft-ware suite for the company’s cash manage-ment solution CompassCM. The currentsoftware offering covers cash processing andvault management processes. The nextgeneration software will be built on a plat-form-based and modular architecture whichwill focus on three major customerdemands - flexible process configuration,support of existing IT standards and easyset-up with configurable reports.Wintergest cited the key advantages ascost-effective roll-outs by using industrystandard software and reporting tools, lessintegration risk and reduced IT mainte-nance costs. He also addressed the advan-tage of applying standard interfaces to lega-cy technology in helping to develop, testand operate the software.

More information about the new bank-note destruction system and sensor suitewill be available at the CurrencyConference. The launch of the new cashmanagement software is scheduled for thesecond half of the year, followed by thelaunch of the new BPS C4.

In June last year Giesecke & Devrient launched the BPS M7, the first in what it termed the next generation of banknote processing systems,with the promise of a successive introduction of new compact, medium and high speed sorters to come, along with new software and sensor tech-nology supporting these and its other cash processing and management solutions. Two new innovations in this roll-out will be launched at theCurrency Conference in Buenos Aires next month, and two later in the year. Currency News took the opportunity, ahead of the first launches,to find out what is in store from Ralf Wintergerst, Head of the G&D’s Banknote Processing Division, and how the next chapter in the compa-ny’s product development strategy is unfolding.

Technology NewsApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


RELIEF Security Screens – a New Dimension to IntaglioSwiss banknote specialist Orell FüssliSecurity Printing has developed a newapproach to creating intaglio securityscreens, which it unveiled at theBanknote 2009 conference inWashington last December. Accordingto the company, the new approach –which is software-driven and offers aseemingly three-dimensional renditionof images – opens up new opportuni-ties with regard to security, design andappearance of the banknotes.

The portraits and other featuresprinted in intaglio on banknotes aretraditionally created with fine lines orcells (the basis of the latter being smallsquares of equal size containing one ormore design elements that, when puttogether, make up the image). Theproduction of life-like representationsis achieved by altering – or modulating– the thickness of the lines and the dis-tance between them or, in the case ofthe cell screens, the thickness of thedesign elements themselves. It is thismodulation that creates the appear-ance of dark and light, as well as depth.According to the company, however,this technique poses limitations withregard to plasticity in particular, butalso to security. Outstanding Rendering

To overcome these limitations,Orell Füssli Security Printing hasadapted the process of generating cellscreens with software that has beenspecifically developed to deliver out-standing rendering capabilities. Thissoftware enables the shape of the cellsto be modulated – optimising theseshapes to attain the best possible dis-play of the portrait or image. And inmodulating the shapes, these can befitted precisely to the object fromwhich the image is being created.

This object is scanned from theoriginal, and a polygonal mesh pro-duced. A grey scale image is then pro-duced from this and the cell screensapplied to the image. The modulation

of the cells themselves, and not justthe design element contained in them,creates a new dimension in the form ofspatial depth. The result, says thecompany, is a better plasticity, whichgive the objects a near 3D appearancethat is distinct from images generatedfrom conventional screen techniques,together with a much wider range ofdesign opportunities and improvedsecurity.

In terms of design, the graphicelements contained in each cell ofRELIEF security screens can be creat-ed at the designer’s discretion, withvirtually no limits. These can include,for example, geometrical patterns,landmarks, animals or logos, resultingin a substantially different appearanceto the overall design. As a result, bank-note issuers can develop various designoptions and compare the differentappearance of each before selectingthose most appropriate to be incorpo-rated into the banknote.

Enhanced security, meanwhile,comes from the precise application of

the cells to the object – again, resultingin an effect that cannot be created con-ventionally. Compatible Software

The special software is compatiblewith the software platforms that arecurrently used by the security printingindustry for the generation of intaglioimages. RELIEF security screens areengraved in the same way as othersecurity screens on the intaglio plate,and hence no additional printingequipment is required. The technolo-gy is available to other security printersthrough the licencing of the software.

Commenting on the development,the company’s deputy director BeatAttinger said: ‘At Orell Fussli SecurityPrinting Ltd, we felt that traditionalsecurity screens comprising lines andcells had some limitations with regardto design possibilities and - to a certainextent - security (with line screensbeing easy to counterfeit), and wantedto develop a better solution. Webelieve that RELIEF security screen isthe right answer.‘

Apart from the thickness of the design element contained in the cell, RELIEF security screens also use the shape ofthe cell to create an almost 3D appearance of the objects, thus providing better plasticity, new design possibilities,and high security. The use of different design elements in RELIEF security screens result in very different appear-ance of the same object.

Banknote of the MonthApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


Chile Mixes and Matches for ItsNew SeriesAs announced in the September issue ofCurrency News, the Banco Central deChile has begun the introduction of anew family of banknotes. The first ofthese, the 5,000 Peso, was put into circu-lation last September (see CN Vol 7, No9) at a special ceremeony attended bythe then President, Michelle Bachelet.The introduction of the second, the10,000 Peso, was postponed by theearthquake in the country, and came outat the end of March.

Chile, which has a population ofaround 16 million, is considered one ofthe most stable and prosperous countriesin South America, and last year was thefirst country in the region to be invitedto join the OECD. It was originally con-trolled by the Incas in the north and theAraucanos in the south. It became aSpanish colony 1540 and in 1750 waspermitted to mint its own coins. It pro-claimed independence from Spain in1810, finally achieving this in 1818 aftervictory over a Spanish Army in the bat-tles of Chacabuco and Maipu.

The new series is the first redesignin nearly 30 years, and is being intro-duced to coincide with Chile’s bicenten-nial this year. In tendering the series atthe end of 2007 the Bank decided, hav-ing tested polymer on the 2,000 Pesobanknote launched in December 2004,that the three low denominations - the1,000, 2000, and 5,000, would be poly-mer – and the two high denominations,the 10,000 and 20,000 Pesos, would bepaper. Cohesive Series

Irrespective of the differencesbetween the two substrates, the Bankwanted a coordinated and cohesiveseries and also specified the main securi-ty features, theme, format and maincolour for each denomination. The samepeople on the existing banknotes wouldbe retained, but more naturalistic por-traits were requested, whilst the themefor the reverse would be ‘natureuntouched by man’. The design tenderwas won by Crane AB (designer Karin

Mörck). Note Printing Australia wasawarded the contract to print the poly-mer notes, and Crane AB the two papernotes.First Planned Combination

While several countries already useboth polymer and paper notes, this isbelieved to the one of the first with the

combination planned from the outsetand the first designed specifically toinclude both substrates in the same fam-ily.

The designs of the all the denomina-tions are geometric and modern with aclear colour statement and naturalisticportraits with intense eyes. In the frontcentre adjacent to the portrait is astylised flower inspired by the Chileannational flower, el Copihue. The offsetpatterns are inspired by old Inca designsand the security features have the sameposition on both paper and polymer ban-knotes to make examination easy for thepublic and machine sensors.

The Antù, a Mapuche graphic thatsymbolises the sun and fertility, is usedas an icon in both the Motion thread inthe paper, and the G-Switch feature inthe polymer, to maintain continuitydespite the different substrates. Alldenominations have one side intagliodesigned for good tactility and posi-tioned to strengthen the corners andedges, tactile marks for the blind, seethrough register, two coloured invisible

UV on both sides, magnetic numbering,protection against colour copying andscanning and covert features.

The new 5,000 Peso banknoteretains the red colour of the previousnote released in July 1981 and a portraitof Gabriela Mistral, the first female poetin Latin America to receive the NobelPrize for literature. The vignette on thereverse depicts the La CampanaNational Park, the last refuge of theChilean palm tree, and a Tucuquere, anowl from the Tierra del Fuego. The G-Switch, in the form of the Antù is colourcoordinated to the print, the transparentwindow has a matching shadow image ofGabriela Mistral and there is a printedmagnetic thread.

The 10,000 peso, Chile’s largest vol-ume banknote, accounts for 43% ofissued currency. The new banknotereplaces the one issued 21 years ago in1989. It retains the blue colour of theprevious banknote and on the obverse aportrait of Arturo Prat, an heroic Chileannavy officer. On the reverse is a vignetteof the National Park of Alberto deAgostino situated in the Chilean part ofthe Tierra del Fuego showing a glaciertypical of the region and an AndeanCondor in flight. The Level 1 securityfeatures on the front are a colour-a coor-dinated Motion thread with an Antùicon, a multi tonal watermark matchingthe portrait of Arturo Prat and a denom-inated electrotype. On the reverse OVI®is used for one of the denomination’s val-ues. There is a magnetic embeddedthread.

The other denominations, the 1,000,2,000 and 20,000 Pesos, will be intro-duced one at a time over the next 18months at six month intervals.

As the first new series designedspecifically to include polymer and papersubstrates, this family of notes featuresharmonious designs and security fea-tures that enhance the national historicfigures and landscapes and promoteChile’s unique culture and identity as itachieves its bicentennial.

Conferences

Diary – Conferencesand Exhibitions

April 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


Currency ConferenceMay 9-12, 2010 Buenos Aires, Argentinawww.currencyconference.com

IPEXMay 18-25, 2010 Birmingham, UKwww.ipex.com

African Banknote PrintersConferenceMay 23-27, 2010 Fez, [email protected]

European ATMs 2010 June 11-12, 2010 London, UKwww.rbrlondon.co.uk

ESTA ConferenceJune 13-15, 2010 Porto, Portugalwww.esta.eu

1st International BanknoteDesigners ConferenceSeptember 5-8, 2010 Geneva, Switzerlandwww.banknotedesignersconference.com

ICCOS AmericasOctober 10-13, 2010 Scottsdale, AZ, USAwww.iccos.net

IntergrafOctober 13-15, 2010 Barcelona, Spainwww.intergraf.org

ATM Security 2010 October 14-15, 2010 London, UKwww.rbrlondon.co.uk

Cash ProcessingOctober 14-15, 2010 Paris, Francewww.efma.com

The European Payments Council out-lined its strategy for promoting a reduc-tion in both the costs and usage of cash,claiming that this amounted to €50 bil-lion for the 15 EU member states(excluding the ten that had joined theprevious year). According to the EPC,€32 billion of this was born by the bank-ing industry it represented, €5 billionby central banks and €13 billion byretailers. The EPC was formed in 2002to create a Single Euro Payments Area

(SEPA), in which citizens can make pay-ments across the eurozone as easily asthey do in their own countries. Its objec-tives then, as now, include the creation oflevel playing field in payment systems andthe elimination of practices that give cashan advantage.

Its explicitly-stated objectives – pro-moting electronic means of payments andoptimising flows of existing cash pay-ments - caused considerable concern atthe ESTA conference that month.

Five Years AgoGraham Levinsohn, of ESTA’s CentralBanks Working Group, was quick toriposte – pointing out the opportunitiesfor driving out €10 billion costs by re-engineering the inflow supply chain andalso pointing out the value of seignorage– estimated at €12 billion. Taking thesefactors into account, ESTA calculatedthe costs of cash at nearer €28 billion,with substantial opportunities for fur-ther reductions.

African Banknote Printers The 16th Conference of theAfrican Association ofBanknote and SecurityDocuments Printers takesplace in Fez, Morocco fromMay 23-27. It is being organ-ized by the Moroccan bank-note printer Dar As Sikkah, and has threemain themes – banknote durability, banknote quality control and e-passports.The opening address will be made by thegovernor of Bank Al-Mahgrib, owners ofDar As Sikkah.

According to the organizers, in addi-tion to the eight African banknote print-ers, it is expecting to receive the majorsuppliers of paper, inks and machinery to

the banknote industry, as wellas the main banknote print-ing companies in Europe andsome central banks.

The conference is heldevery one to two years, andalso serves as a meeting

forum for the association. Members taketurns to hold the conference, with eachhosting it for two consecutive years. DarAs Sikkah hosted the last conference aswell, in Rabat. The hosts for the nextconference will be South African BankNote.

Further information, including theagenda, can be obtained from [email protected].

Annual ESTA ConferenceESTA (the European SecurityTransport Association) is holdingits annual meeting June 13-15 inPorto, Portugal. Its theme is‘The Cash Cycle of the NewDecade’ and this, along withupcoming EU legislation impact-ing on the CIT industry andsecurity issues, will form the maindebates of the conference.

The welcome address will be madeby Dr R. Pereira – the PortugueseMinister of Internal Affairs. A number ofcentral banks will be presenting, includ-ing those of Germany, Italy, Portugal andthe Czech Republic, along with the ECB.The agenda also features presentationson the CIT industries in Sweden,

Ireland, Portugal, France andBelgium. Representatives of theEuropean Payment Council willbe talking about cross-borderissues from the banking indus-try’s perspective, while theEuropean Commission’s ECFINDirectorate General and OLAF

will be giving presentations on the legalstatus of cash (see page 6), cross borderregulations, and new regulations regard-ing coin authentication respectively.

The agenda will conclude with thelatest CIT crime statistics – compiled byESTA from its members and an annualfeature of the event,

Full details are available at www.esta-cash.eu.

Publisher: Currency Publications Ltd (a ReconnaissanceInternational/Currency Research company)

Editor: Astrid Mitchell

Board of Advisors: Charles Cardiff, Jacques vanDroogenbroeck, Tom Ferguson, Eugenie Foster, BrianLang, Bill Melbourn, Francis Ravez, Keith Richbell,Karel Schell, Raul Sierra, Dietmar Spranz.

Currency News is published 12 times a year to reporton regulatory, commercial and technical develop-ments of importance to those specifying, issuing,producing, handl ing or process ing of currency.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem or translated in any form or by any means – electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the priorpermission of the publishers. While every effort has been made tocheck the information given in this publication, the authors, editorsand publishers cannot accept any responsibility for any loss ordamage arising out of, or caused by the useof, such information.Opinions expressed in Currency News are those of the individualauthors and not necessarily those of the publisherCOPYRIGHT 2010. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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In the NewsApril 2010 | Vol 8 | No 4 Currency News |


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materials, and the Mint frequently hadto close down production. This ended forgood in 1949, the government beingunwilling to make the major investmentrequired in updating the ageing equip-ment. Since then, production of theColón coins has been undertaken else-where, mainly in Europe. The opening ofthe new mint, therefore, marks a returnto the country’s roots in domestic coinproduction. It is also the only mint in theregion and the first new mint anywherein the world for many years.

The project was planned and imple-mented by a consortium of Swiss andCosta Rican investors, who developed athree-step investment plan, amountingto over US$10m over the next six years.The first phase has already been com-pleted, involving a $4m investment tobuild the facilities, a security system andan efficient logistics network. One of themajor partners and investors is AmeraInternational, a Swiss-based supplier ofcoin services including blanks, coins pro-duction and recycling. For the past fewyears, it has been the supplier of CostaRica’s coins and its head, Daniel Sheffer,is co-chairman of the new enterprisetogether with his Costa Rican counter-part, José Antonio Guilá.

In addition to the minting of circula-tion coins (which currently comprise 5,10,. 25, 50, 100 and 500 Colónes), Mintof Costa Rica will also supply other serv-ices, from the production of medals andtokens to coins storage. A special fea-

tures is the destruction of circulatingcoins, using demonetising machinesthat transform the coins into scrapmetal, offering customers an environ-mentally-sensitive as well as cost-effective solution for the removal oflarge amounts of circulation coins. Afurther service will be what the Mintterms an ‘exemplary cash centre with amodern cash sorting and distributionsystem’.

According to the Mint, it will beguaranteeing high flexibility on deliv-ery times, as well as tailoring its servic-es to individual needs and specialorders. Its main customer, the centralbank, will be an immediate beneficiarywith shorter lead times and enhancedavailability. As the bank’s manager RoyGonzález commented: ‘Every time theCentral Bank needs to acquire coins,we have to wait weeks for the deliveryto arrive. Having a mint in Costa Ricais a very attractive alternative, for itgrants us almost immediate availabilityof coins and means we can respondstraightaway to the market’sdemands’.

Mint of Costa Rica is based in SanJosé, the Cost Rican capital – an idealgeographical crossroads betweenNorth and South America. The coun-try has a long history of stable demo-cratic government and a fast-growingeconomy with the highest per capitaincome in the region. The Mint hopesto capitalize on these conditions indue course by exporting its productionand knowledge throughout the region.

World’s Youngest Mint...cont

Currency News Apr 10

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