‘Concept Notes: Art, Design and Security in One’, is a new special report from Currency News, co-published by Reconnaissance, which summarises the latest house notes.
House notes, concept notes, specimen notes… Whatever people call them, every year sees the issue of a range of such notes, produced by banknote printers and substrate and feature suppliers as marketing tools to promote their design and technical capabilities, and/or to introduce their latest features.
At one end of the spectrum are the notes that are relatively simple paper samples with minimal print that act as carriers to showcase specific individual features. At the other are sophisticated notes integrating multiple levels and layers of design and security that demonstrate creativity and complexity often far beyond that normally seen in circulating banknotes.
From the simple to the sophisticated, house or concept notes are genuine works of art that are eagerly collected by members of the banknote community, more often than not at conferences, and in some cases by the wider community of notaphilists (those who study and collect paper money).
The absence of such conferences has removed a key platform for the presentation and distribution of the latest notes. It is to bridge this gap that Currency News issued the special supplement, which will be an annual publication.
The report reviews the features, the technologies, production processes and partnerships that have generated these notes. It also looks at the design rationale that underpin each. They all tell a story, and it is these stories that make these notes truly come to life.
Issue 1 covers the latest concept notes from companies that include CCL Secure, Crane Currency, Louisenthal, De La Rue, Hungarian Banknote Printing Company, Nanotech, Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions, KRYPTEN, KURZ, Note Printing Australia, Orell Füssli and PWPW.
The next edition will be published in early 2022.
Concept Notes is available via the Currency News website – www.currency-news.com.
