Recognising Outstanding Design and Innovation in EMEA Banknotes

The prestigious Regional Banknote and ID Document of the Year Awards form part of the industry’s High Security Printing™ (HSP) EMEA conference. This year’s event was held in Abu Dhabi, with the awards presented at a special ceremony during the conference dinner on 8 March.

There are three categories for the Banknote Awards – Best New Series, Best New Banknote and Best New Commemorative Banknote – with Liberia, the UAE and Qatar all receiving recognition this year.

Best New Series

The winner of the best new series was the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), which replaced its 2016 banknotes with a new series. This included updated designs and a new high denomination L$1,000. The other notes in the series are the L$20, L$50, L$100, and L$500. In addition, the L$5 and L$10 denominations have been minted as coins.

Most of the updated designs are the same as the previous series, and retain the same portraits with stylised changes, featuring a change of image only on the L$500.

Giesecke+Devrient produced all five denominations over a two-year period, and the new series strongly represents both the traditional and modern features of Liberia. The front of the L$1,000, for example, shows the 16 ethnic groups of Liberia, as symbolic of the origin of the country and national unity, while the L$500 has a new image on the front of seven ladies who designed the Liberian flag, recognising the role of women in the formation of Liberia and the nation’s development.

Four of the denominations are secured with state-of-the-art RollingStar i+ threads. Each has a five-pointed star (representative of Liberia as the first independent republic on the African continent), and a dynamic pulsing effect when tilted. The CBL also incorporated a different colour changing effect. The text ‘CBL’ and the denomination number can be seen as Cleartext when held up to the light. The RAPID® thread from Crane Currency on the L$100 also incorporates the star.

The introduction of the new series has been supported with a public education campaign and an app.

Best New Banknote

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates won the Best New banknote award for the 1,000 dirham (AED) banknote. It follows the issue of new 5 and 10 dirham notes in 2022 and the new 50 dirham in late 2021, all of which are printed by Oumolat Security Printing on De La Rue’s SAFEGUARD® polymer.

The front of the new banknote depicts the image of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, next to a model of a space shuttle, recognising his passion for the UAE to becoming a pioneer in space exploration. His ambition was realised in the Emirates Mars Mission ‘Hope Probe’ journey in 2021. The reverse of the note depicts the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.

The main security feature is a partially metallised KINEGRAM COLORS® foil stripe from KURZ depicting an astronaut. A separate window features a portrait of the Sheik. In addition, the numeral is printed with SICPA’s SPARK Flow® DIMENSION, which changes colour from gold-to-green.

Best New Commemorative Banknote

The winner of the Best Commemorative Banknote was the Qatar Central Bank for the 22 riyal issued to mark the FIFA World Cup, which took place in the country from 18 November to 20 December last year. The unusual denomination was chosen to align with the 22nd football tournament taking place in 2022.

The note, which is printed on SAFEGUARD, is not only the first commemorative banknote to be issued in Qatar, but the first to be produced on polymer.

Images on the front of the note include the Qatar coat of arms, a skyline of modern and old buildings, and the Lusail Iconic Stadium. The reverse depicts Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, an Arab sailing ship (dhow) and Al Zubara Fort.

Also featured are the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 logo and the World Cup Trophy, which appear in transparent windows and can be seen from both sides of the notes.

In addition to the banknote awards, a special achievement award was made to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) in recognition of its new state-of-the-art printworks and cash centre, which has arisen from the Egyptian desert outside Cairo at an incredible pace and on a vast scale.

As the authority overseeing the country’s financial system and currency, the CBE embraced the opportunity to relocate its headquarters and create a new large-scale currency hub in the New Administrative Capital, complete with printworks and a connected automated cash management centre.

The printworks is currently capable of producing 5 billion notes per year. The cash centre can handle up to 20 million notes per day, but is scalable to up to 100 million notes per day. The new complex was completed in five years, with work continuing during the pandemic, and formally opened in 2022.