Two banknotes featuring Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) technology received the “Regional Banknote of the Year Award” at the High Security Printing (HSP) EMEA industry conference: Lesotho’s first Green Banknote and Morocco’s new 100-dirham banknote.
Each year at the HSP Conference, banknotes that combine outstanding design, technical sophistication, and the highest security standards are recognized with the “Regional Banknote of the Year Award”. The winning banknotes combine artistic demands with excellent technology and security, and reflect the cultural background of the country in an appealing way.
At the HSP-EMEA conference, which took place in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia this week, two banknotes produced or equipped with security features by G+D have now received awards. The winner in the “Best New Commemorative Banknote” category is the 200 Maloti note issued by the Central Bank of Lesotho to commemorate the 60th birthday of King Letsie III. The redesigned front of the banknote features a portrait of the king in the center. Morocco’s new 100-dirham banknote won the “Best New Banknote” category. It reflects Morocco’s cultural heritage in the Sahara, as well as the region’s economic achievements and the country’s openness to Africa.
The Lesotho commemorative banknote is one of the world’s first Green Banknotes developed by G+D. It documents the central bank’s efforts to contribute to greater environmental protection and sustainability. The banknote paper core consists of 75 percent sustainably certified “Cotton made in Africa” and 25 percent certified cellulose fibers from sustainable forestry. The natural fiber substrate is laminated with a thinner PET film, and the security thread carrier foil is largely made from recycled PET, significantly reducing the amount of plastic. In addition, mineral-oil-free inks were used for simultaneous printing. Thanks to its sustainable materials and durability, the Green Banknote has the lowest lifecycle carbon footprint of any banknote on the market.
State-of-the-art security threads offer maximum protection
Both award-winning banknotes feature embedded security elements such as threads and watermarks from Louisenthal, a subsidiary of G+D. The central security feature of the commemorative banknote from Lesotho is the “RollingStar i+” security thread. This innovative thread offers maximum protection against counterfeiting thanks to its unique micromirror technology. When the banknote is tilted, a dynamic motion effect is created, combined with a color change from magenta to green. The thread is also protected by a unique machine-readable magnetic code.
Morocco’s new 100-dirham banknote uses a “Galaxy” security thread for fast and clear authentication. The thread has a gold-green color change, an individual design, and is registered. Each of the three thread windows is assigned a specific design by register-true insertion into the paper, so that all notes look the same. On the new 100-dirham banknote, for example, the middle window shows a five-pointed star, while the upper and lower windows have a flip effect, changing from the text DH (for dirham) to the number 100 when tilted.
“We are delighted for our central bank partners in Lesotho and Morocco and congratulate them on their awards,” explains Clemens Berger, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors at Louisenthal. “They demonstrate how state-of-the-art technology can take the design language, security and sustainability of banknotes to a whole new level.”
