HUMANIA: One Note, One Jab

Work has now started on the first in the HUMANIA series of banknotes, which are being produced to raise money to support people who have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The notes will be available in September, and will be priced at $5 each, equivalent to the cost of one dose of the COVID vaccine. Proceeds will be donated to the vaccine alliance GAVI, which is the delivery partner for COVAX, the global mechanism for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

HUMANIA was launched by the cash community in late 2020, with the objective of leveraging the unique characteristics of cash to help restore hope and support the people in society who have been most affected by the pandemic in their efforts to recover and rebuild. It aims to achieve this by: 

• Raising funds and awareness to support post-COVID-19 recovery.

• Paying tribute to those who have been on the frontline during the fight against the pandemic.

• Demonstrating that cash connects people in a crisis thanks to its unique attributes: universality, resilience, trust.

The first phase of the initiative was a currency design programme, in which designers were invited to capture a moment from the pandemic and depict it in banknotes or coins. SICPA, CCL Secure, Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions, KURZ and Independent Currencies all submitted designs and artwork.

The first of these to proceed to production is from SICPA, with the theme ‘Organic Algorithms’. It was originated by JURA and is being printed on Durasafe® substrate from Landqart by Orell Füssli with a new foil feature from KURZ. Numbering is being undertaken by Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions. All participants are providing their time and materials free of charge.

It is hoped that, in addition to the purchase of the notes by the banknote collecting community, the industry will also step up – buying the notes in volume to give to staff and customers, for example.

More information on the different options will be made available in due course.

‘Commenting on this next phase of the HUMANIA initiative, Mark Stevenson, IBDA President and part of the HUMANIA executive committee, said: ‘this is a landmark moment for the global cash community. HUMANIA CURRENCY is the first ever truly cross-community initiative involving actors from all sectors. It is now up to each and every one of us to build upon the incredible spirit of support and community demonstrated by our partners to date by making a firm and definite commitment to procure HUMANIA CURRENCY banknotes that will become available later this year.’ For more information, visit www.HUMANIACURRENCY.com or email info@HUMANIACURRENCY.com