The recent Currency Conference in Athens Greece was host to the International Association of Currency Affairs annual Excellence in Currency Awards Winners. At a special IACA ceremony the finalists were again reviewed for an enthusiastic audience. I am particularly proud of the winner in the Best New Banknote Or Banknote Series! The Excellence in Currency Awards winners are:

The Best New Banknote Series

The awards committee agreed on four finalists;

The States of Jersey Treasury £100 note

The Bank of Canada polymer series

The Macao Commemorative note

The Bank of England £50 note

… and the winner is: The Bank of Canada with their new polymer series of banknotes!

The Best New Currency Feature

The finalists for the best new feature are:

Neomag  (SICPA)

Dualtrack (Oberthur)

Picture Thread (Arjowiggins)

… and the winner is: NEOMAG®: REINVENTING MAGNETISM

The Best New Currency Innovation

The finalists for this category are:

Fitness Sorting “Brain” software - De Nederlands Bank

Common Cash Management - National Bank of Belgium & De Nederlands Bank

… and the winner is: De Nederlands Bank – Fitness Sorting “BRAIN” software

The Best New Currency Product

KBA-NotaSyS’ new Super Orlof Intaglio III

Inter Crim Press / APIS - Catalogue “Currencies of the World”

Fitness Sorting “Brain” software - De Nederlands Bank

… and the winner is: KBA-NotaSyS’ new Super Orlof Intaglio III

The Best New Currency Public Education Program

The finalists for the public education award are:

Banknotes of the City of Children (Mexico)

Check a Banknote Smartphone APP (Netherlands)

Know Your Currency (Namibia)

… and the winner is: Know Your Currency – Namibia

The Best Currency Website

The finalists for the website award are:

Bank of Mexico

Reserve Bank of Australia

Bank of Namibia

… and the winner is: Reserve Bank of Australia

The Lifetime Achievement Award

… and the winner is: Dr. Bruce Hardwick

Dr. Hardwick has worked in the Research and Development field since gaining his PhD in 1974. He joined Note Printing Australia (NPA) in 1983 and led the R&D team responsible for taking the polymer note into production.  He was a Working Party member of the Intaglio Research Group (IRG) for nine years. This international group became the Intaglio Study Group (with six member countries) in 1995 and he became Acting Chairman in 1998.  He was also a member of the Four Nations’ Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence Group Working Party for almost 15 years and chaired the group for four years.

Bruce has developed and patented a number of banknote security features and presented technical papers at international conferences.  Bruce retired from NPA in 2005 and since then has been working with central banks on banknote related issues.

Counting On Currency would like to congratulate all of the Finalists and the Winners in each category. Each Finalist’s entry offers significant advances in our industry through features, production and processing techniques. We thank them for their continuing efforts to advance the currency industry!