News in Brief

New Owner for Osborne Coinage

Royal United Mint (RUM), the parent company of the Royal Dutch Mint and the Belgian Mauquoy Token Company, has acquired Osborne Coinage Co, based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the oldest private mint in the US. According to RUM, the acquisition will establish its presence in the US and make it the world leader in the production of base metal tokens and medals.

All three companies make virtually the same products, albeit with different production methods, techniques and capabilities. This acquisition, says RUM, will facilitate knowledge sharing, an expansion of the product range, as well as efficiency gains in production, sales and logistics.

The short term ambition is to converge the success formulae across all three companies. In the long term, Osborne Coinage will relocate to a modern building with an optimised production flow, following the example of the Royal Dutch Mint which moved to a more spacious, energy-efficient, highly secured and ultra-modern building in 2020.

In addition to its ownership of the Royal Dutch Mint, Mauquoy and, now, Osborne Coinage, RUM’s portfolio includes National Tokens (an operator of souvenir coin machines), Vistamint (a webshop with custom tokens for the B2C market), Dutch Value Logistics (storage and value products) and Tool & Dies (a manufacturer of tools for the metal processing industry).

Shaking hands on the deal, from left to right, Vincent Van Hecke (CEO, Royal United Mint), Jeffrey Stegman (CEO, Osborne Coinage) and Andre McCaster (President, Osborne Coinage).

Authentix Buys Royal Joh Enschedé

Authentix has announced that it has acquired Netherlands based Royal Joh Enschedé, a leading specialty printing and security solutions provider, from investment firm Nimbus.

Founded in 1703, Royal Joh Enschedé developed from a small book printer to an international security printing organisation producing banknotes, government documents, postage and tax stamps and brand protection solutions. It was acquired by Nimbus in 2014, exited banknote printing in 2017.

The company since then has been a frontrunner in the digital-physical cross-over technological transition, with its portfolio including stamps, visas, tax labels and cryptocurrencies.

US-based Authentix is a developer of covert making systems, detectors and related management systems for a wide range of applications, including fuel marking, revenue collection, brand protection. It is best known in the banknote industry for its covert taggants and high speed sensors for Level 3 protection. It first secured a foothold in physical document production with the acquisition of UK-based Security Print Solutions in 2019.

‘This strategic acquisition expands our portfolio and capabilities in high security printing technologies to support Authentix’s ongoing growth in programs for governments, central banks, and commercial brand owners,’ stated Kevin McKenna, CEO of Authentix, adding that ‘the combination of experience, craftmanship, design innovation and production techniques that Joh Enschedé brings to Authentix fits perfectly with our current strategic growth strategy.’ 

New Security Ink from NanoMatriX

Hong Kong-based NanoMatriX has introduced a new high-security ink – called MatriX-Intaglio – aimed at protecting documents and currency from counterfeiting. It is targeting the new ink at the printing sector and government agencies.

Among the features of the new product is that it is infrared transparent, making it difficult to copy., and includes a fluorescent ink feature that provides added security under specific lighting conditions. It is also optically variable, changing colour or pattern when viewed from different angles, and can be formulated with additional covert and forensic security features.

NanoMatriX says the ink can be applied to paper and polymer substrates and has a ‘thick, heavy consistency’ that allows it to hold its shape when applied, ensuring durability and colour stability on either material.

SPMCIL Extends EOI Deadline for Thread Production

As noted in the March issue of Currency News™, Security Paper Mill, a unit of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) located in Narmadapuram (formerly known as Hoshangabad), has issued an Express of Interest (EOI) for the establishment of a new security thread manufacturing plant. The deadline for this has now been extended from end March to 2 June 2023.

The annual production requirement is likely to be 2.4 million km. The range of technologies required includes threads with magnetic and non-magnetic properties, colour shift, and micro text.

All Indian banknotes bar the Rs 1 currently feature security threads – narrow metallised versions for the three lowerst denominations and colour shift windowed threads for the four higher ones. The latter used to be imported but, post COVID-19, these are also produced locally under the Make in India initiative.

The three current producers are Aristocraft (who signed a technology transfer and licence agreement with Louisenthal last year) and Security Products, both of which are located in Himachal Pradesh, plus Arrow Greentech (formerly known as Arrow Coated Products), based in Mumbai.

Despite the presence of three, private, thread producers in India, it is understood that SPMCIL, as a government entity, wants to be able to control production both for domestic requirements and exports. The EOI provides an opportunity for these manufacturers, as well as companies outside the country.

MEPs Vote on Cash Limits

MEPs belonging to the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committees have approved stricter rules to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and evasion of sanctions in the EU, which include uniform EU-wide limits on cash. These rules will form part of the EU Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation, which is currently being negotiated between the Parliament and the European Council.

To restrict transactions in cash and crypto assets, MEPs want to cap payments for goods and services at €7,000 for cash and €1000 for crypto-asset transfers, where the customer cannot be identified.

A limit of €10,000 was proposed last year, and subsequently revised downwards to €3,000, before being lifted in this latest round to €7,000. Currently the limits in individual EU countries range from €500 (Greece) to none at all (Luxembourg, Malta, Germany, Austria and Sweden).