Watermark magazine presents English Digest 

Invaluable source of information on security printing industry in Russia and the CIS countries
Publication frequency - two issues a year
Circulation - 5000 copies

The 4th International Scientific and Practical Conference on Security Printing

 Contents № 10 / 2012 

THE NEW FILLING OF THE OLD BANKNOTES

The modified 500 and 5000-rouble banknotes are even better protected against counterfeiting

The Russians have started to get acquainted with the modified banknotes with the face values of 500 and 5000 roubles. Igor Pavlov, Head of Product Creation and Modification Division of Goznak, explains what to pay attention to in order to verify the banknotes quickly and reliably.

CITIES REMAIN ON THE BANKNOTES

The banknote series modernization should not leave an impression of a currency reform, they believe at the Bank of Russia

The whole world accepts the Russian rouble as one of the best-protected currencies in the world; in particular the fact is provided by the constant security complex modification. In spite of the modifications, the banknote design has remained usual for a decade and a half. But discussions about what should be placed on our money go on as well. Do the Russian roubles need a new design today? Vladimir FINOGENOV, Head of Division of Currency Units and Counterfeiting Preventive Measures of the Department of Currency Circulation of the Bank of Russia comments the issue for The Watermark.

THE ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND

The KIPP-effect is not bright but unique. Few people verify it, though it is not counterfeited

"Encyclopedia of security features” – that’s how we’ve decided to call a series of articles dedicated to the history and the present conditions of security features most important for the Russian security printing. Initially we planned the watermark to become the first character of the new headline. But Alexander Mochalov, Head of the Security Technology Development Division of Goznak, advised us to start with another security feature which is seldom remembered, little described and almost never counterfeited, and which has an unusual, long and happy destiny. The feature is the KIPP effect.

ART REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE

It is not enough to be an artist to create guilloches – it is necessary to know the ropes in trigonometry and possess an excellent eyesight

These elements are in every security printed product. Moreover, the design of some products is formed of them exclusively. Lace frames, relief inscriptions and images, fancy designs of background forming lines, elegant rosettes – these are only a part of a whole class of the product graphical security – guilloche elements. They may be called the first security elements in the printing industry.

NO LIMIT TO PERFECTION

Today the market of security technologies does not offer new breakthrough solutions. The main attention is paid to improvement of what was developed earlier

Currency Conference-2011 that took place in Singapore on October, 2nd – 5th, 2011, impressed by its sheer scale. Marina Bay Sands, a 57-storied hotel, where participants were accommodated; conference hall that contained all the 525 delegates; huge exhibition hall – all this created an impression of immensity. One more feature of the conference was great attendance: even in the third day there were more than two thirds of delegates. In feedback sheets which were filled in by delegates in the last day, the main disadvantage was mentioned as: "couldn't find the way to the conference hall". All the rest participants of the conference seem to be pleased with the event.

WHEN QUALITY IS NOT DUE TO QUANTITY

Currency Conference organizers don't aim at the constant increase of the number of participants. An attractive agenda and the right proportion between customers and suppliers is more important for them

Richard Haycock, chairman of Currency Research started the Currency Conference in 1992. It was held in San Francisco. The conference is held every 18 months and travels around the globe to reach as many countries as possible. The 2010 conference took place in South America for the first time. Then 475 delegates from 72 countries travelled to Buenos Aires. The latest conference took place in Singapore in early October 2011. On the last day of the conference, Adrian Baxter, the Chief Executive Officer of Currency Research told "Vodyanoy Znak" magazine about this conference and plans for the future.

MONEY OF CHARACTER

Kazakh banknotes design is developed taking into account peculiarities of national character

At Currency Conference-2011 a new commemorative Kazakh banknote of 10 000 tenge in honor of the 20th anniversary of republic independence was presented (the banknote came into circulation on July, 4th, 2011). "Vodyanoy Znak" learned about features of that new commemorative banknote from Grigory Marchenko, Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, and Mendybay Alin, Chief Designer of the Bank.

EXCISE STAMPS: BETWEEN A DIGIT AND PAPER

Advantages and disadvantages of digital and paper stamps were discussed at the Tax Stamp Forum

Тhe third forum on excise stamps (Tax Stamp Forum) organized by Reconnaissance International took place in September 2011 in Washington D.C. The first forum took place in Budapest three years ago, and then even the organizers doubted the idea perspective. But it turned out that the market of excise stamps develops very actively offering new solutions for excise stamp production, excisable product control and the state tax collection. Representatives of state structures, excise stamp and security element manufacturers as well as developers of the brand new excisable product control and monitoring systems took part in the forum.

BELARUSIAN EXCISES ARE READY TO BE REINFORCED

Thanks to Unigramma™ any user in Belarus may convince himself of lawfulness and consequently of the quality of the purchased goods on the spotn

New security for registered high-security forms – Unigramma with a diffractive bar-code – is developed in the Republic of Belarus. The improved security element appeared in 2010, but The Minsk Printing Factory did not present the novelty to the general public until the end of 2011. Vladimir Shtaida, Head of the Marketing Department of the Minsk Printing Factory of Goznak of Belarus, presented a report about the Unigramma for the first time at the 10th Asian Security Printing Conference – Cross Conference in Delhi. The Watermark is the first magazine where Vladimir Shtaida has described the new security element ready to be applied in the excise stamps.

MARKS AGAINST COUNTERFEIT

Additional protection for holograms is invisible for the naked eye but it gives quick and safe answer about authenticity with the help of reader.

al Gilat, the CEO of InkSure Technologies, can be met at almost all the conferences on security features and has been a speaker at most of them – e.g. on excise mark security, banknotes security and even coins security. InkSure Technologies develops security marks which, as Tal Gilat said, can be implemented to any surface – paper, plastics or even metal – and protect a product from forgery. At the Holo-Pack Holo-Print conference Tal Gilat explained how marks can become additional security features for holograms and presented a new reader for reading the marks. After the presentation he told to “Vodyanoy Znak” about the security features with the help of chemical marks.

CARDS ARE PROTECTED WITH A WATERMARK

A new security feature allows recognizing if it is counterfeit or notA new security feature allows recognizing if it is counterfeit or not

For the last 10 years polycarbonate has proved itself as the most appropriate material for id-cards. But according to Arjowiggins Security, a French company, a plastic card has one weak point – there are no authentication features of the first level (i.e. security features which anyone can recognize). To solve the problem Arjowiggins Security offered its new development which is a plastic cards with paper watermark. The new technology was called Twinmark® HD2. Jean-Yves Leroy , one of the creators of the idea, told us about it.

GOLD AND DIAMONDS ARE ADDED TO TASTE

Luxury payment сards are custom-made; every card is decorated by hand.

In one of our previous issues we told about VIP-cards decorated with gold, platinum, diamonds and other gem stones. We met recently Rosan Diamond again at Cartes exhibition and inquired about sales of luxury bank cards. Christiana Polynova, a specialist of the company, answered questions of "Vodyanoy znak".

HOLOGRAPHY WIT CHIPS

New technology can be applied for museum objects security 1

At Holo-Pack Holo-Print Conference in Las Vegas in November, 2011 Specialized Enterprise HOLOGRAPHY (the EDAPS Consortium) (Ukraine) and Toppan Printing (Japan) presented a co-project where they combined a hologram and RFID-tag. This development gives an opportunity to protect a mark visually (a function of hologram) together with an opportunity to read the information about a item where the mark implemented; to compare the information with data in a database; to control the transportation of an item (a function of RFID-tag). Andrey Ivanovsky, Head of Optical Department of SE HOLOGRAPHY, gave more information about that new security feature to "Vodyanoy Znak".