(House) Banknotes of the Month

In this version of Banknote of the Month, we are focusing on some of the latest and best house notes, specifically those which have been released at the Currency Conference in May or the High Security Printing (HSP) Latin America conference in June.

Out of Darkness Comes… STELLA

Bundesdruckerei (BDR) introduced the first in its ExNihilo family of four house notes at last year’s Banknote Conference. The name is derived from ‘ex nihilo nihil fit’, or ‘from nothing comes nothing’ – with BDR’s ideas for new technologies coming from the starting point of ‘nothingness’, a state where everything is absent, including light. The physical embodiment of this, as relates to the first two of the four notes in the series, is their most distinctive feature – namely they are black, defying banknote convention.

The first in the series – IGNIS – centred around fire. The second – STELLA – is inspired by stars. And its focus is on sustainability.