NEWS - 2006

Brunei Currency and Monetary Board issued denominations $500 and $10,000 respectively on 28th December 2006. The two new Guardian®; polymer banknotes were issued in conjunction with the 60th birthday of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

The new $500 note depicts the portrait of the Sultan's father, the late al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, whilst the $1000 features portrait of the His Majesty the Sultan. Both $500 and $10,000 will replace the old paper banknotes.

Polymer notes were first introduced in Brunei in 1996 with the issuance of $1, $5 and $10 notes, followed by the release of $50 and $100 polymer notes in 2004.

Security features incorporated on both notes include:

The National Bank of Romania issued the new 200 lei banknote on the 1st December 2006, as the seventh denomination in the new redenominated banknote series issued in July 2005. The obverse of the new 200 lei banknote features portrait of Lucian Blaga (1895-1961), poet, actor, philosopher, professor and diplomat, while the reverse is a composition of graphic representations depicting Neolithic statue from Hamangia.

On 21 November 2006, Banco de Mexico (BdM) issued the 50 pesos polymer banknote, the second denomination to be issued by BdM on Guardian®; polymer substrate. The new 50 pesos polymer note is part of the new series BdM is launching over the next three years. It retains the portrait of José María Morelos from the paper note design on the front of the note whilst on the reverse it has a complete new design depicting the Aqueduct for the city of Morelia accompanied by the monarch butterflies.

The security features incorporated in the polymer 50 pesos banknote include:

VIETNAM ISSUES NEW VND200,000 & VND10,000 COMPLETING THE POLYMER BANKNOTE CIRCULATING SERIES

On 30th August 2006 the State Bank of Vietnam issued new 200,000 Dong & 10,000 Dong polymer banknotes to complete its currency conversion from paper to polymer. VND200,000 is a new denomination in the circulating banknote series while VND10,000 Dong will co-circulate with the current paper 10,000 Dong, which will be phased out over time.In a media statement issued by State Bank of Vietnam, the issuance of these two denominations is aimed to reduce counterfeiting, making the notes cleaner and more durable, better responding to payment needs of the economy and making a significant contribution in saving issuance costs simultaneously. With the launch of the new polymer banknotes, Vietnam will have six different polymer banknotes in circulation, including the VND 500,000 note, the VND 100,000 note, the VND 50,000 note and the VND 20,000 note.

CBN to Introduce N20 in Synthetic Form

Stories by Josephine Lohor in Abuja, "This Day" 05.18.2006

Nigerians will by the end of the year have at their disposal N20 in plastic form (polymer substrate) and N1, N2 and 50 Kobo in coins as contract for the minting has already been given out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Soludo, who made this disclosure yesterday while giving an update on CBN and its reforms to the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC), regretted that Nigeria was the only country in the world that had a mint but still imported currency.
He said the CBN has put measures in place to achieve about 41 to 58 per cent reduction of notes and 60 per cent on coins.
Emphasizing that such importation would end by December 31 this year, he said that the Nigeria Security, Minting and Printing Company (NSMPC) had before the recent staff retrenchment employed about 1,800 workers but needed only about 900, adding that the company never produced up to 1 billion notes in over 10 years.

State Bank of Vietnam issues 20,000 Dong

On the 17th May 2006 the State Bank of Vietnam issued the 20,000 Dong polymer banknote. The 20,000 Dong will co-circulate with the current paper 20,000 Dong, which will be phased out over time.
In a media statement issued by the State Bank of Vietnam, the bank stated that the issue of the polymer 20,000 VND note is aimed to improve anti-counterfeiting, making the notes cleaner and more durable, better responding to payment needs of the economy and also making a significant contribution in saving issuance costs of banknotes in the long term.

The security features on the note include the clear window, shadow image, emboss in window and iridescent stripe.

10,000 & 20,000 polymer banknotes will be available before the 3rd quarter 2006

At a press conference on 7 March 06, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Phung announced that VND10,000 & 20,000 polymer banknotes are planned to be issued before the 3rd quarter 2006. After issuing the whole polymer banknote set, the State Bank of Vietnam will issue a polymer banknote catalogue with full specifications, so that the people will easily recognise the differences between the genuine banknotes & the counterfeit ones.

The $2 polymer note was issued on 12 January 2006 by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The $2 polymer note will be introduced in phases.
The design of the $2 polymer note continues with the portrait series as MAS states that the public is familiar with the series. The similarities between the features of the paper and the new polymer notes are:

Portrait of Singapore's first President, the late Encik Yusof bin Ishak, on the front, and images related to the Education theme at the back Same colour (predominantly purple)
Same size (126 mm x 63 mm)

The security features unique to polymer technology produced on the $2 note include the Clear Complex Window, Shadow Image, Singapore Lion Symbol with Hidden Image which is a stylized gold patch with the image of the Singapore Arms appearing at varying angles, Security Thread and an Embossed Clear Window."Rush for polymer $2 notes swamps banks." The Straits Times, 19 January 2006