500 Dram

The 500 Dram commemorative banknote, issued in late 2017, represents a combination of the highest level of security and outstanding design techniques. The note is themed around the biblical tale of Noah’s Ark (Mount Ararat in Armenia is widely believed to the final resting place of the Ark), featuring images of a silver reliquary made in 1698 against a background of the Monastery of Etchmiadzin and Mount Ararat. The reverse shows images of fauna and people leaving the Ark. .

The banknote includes a number of security features, woven together with the banknote’s theme – some of which are making their first appearance in a banknote. They include RollingStar® LEAD, which dynamic colour and shifting effects from gold to green, and Galaxy® Security Thread, which matches the colour shift in the LEAD feature and incorporates 3D circles and intricate images of the Ark, 500 and AMD.

The note also features SICPA SPARK® Live True spin, again with a gold to green colour shift, laser cut images of the Ark and a watermark, and is printed on the Hybrid™ paper/polymer substrate.

2000 Som

The 2000 Som commemorative banknote was issued in November 2017 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the independence of the Kyrgyz Republic and the establishment of its national currency.

The new banknote has a unique combination of sophisticated, artistic designs conceived by the National Bank of Kyrgyz Republic banknote designer Murat Sagimbaev. The 2000 Som includes a wide variety of detailed symbols of the Kyrgyz people and the country’s beautiful and wild nature. By reading it from the bottom to the top, the banknote also tells the history – from ancient times to the modern Kyrgyzstan of today.

It is also the first note to use MOTION® SURFACE™ – a technology that creates engaging three dimensional and animated effects with high resolution based on micro-optics. The MOTION SURFACE stripe showcases a number of unique visual effects based on Deep (in which objects appear to sit below the surface of the banknote), Shimmer (a controlled shine) and Topo (topographic – in which objects appear to rest on the surface of the note) effects. T

In addition, the 200 Som banknote is the first note to carry Kurz’s KINEGRAM COLORS® patch that changes the figure “25” to the Kyrgyz national pattern.

500 Zloty

The best banknote award was made to Poland’s Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP), which issued a new high denomination 500 złoty banknote to circulate alongside the existing 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 zloty denominations. The new banknote was issued on 10th February 2017.

The new denomination is to ensure the uninterrupted circulation of cash within the country, due in part to the growing demand for high value notes within Poland. The Bank also anticipates that the new note will help to reduce costs related to issuing currency.

The 500 złoty banknote has a blue, brown, burgundy and green colour scheme and includes a portrait of King John III Sobieski, continuing the banknote series theme of ‘Rulers of Poland’.

There are a number of modern security features embedded into the note, which in addition to their high technological quality ensure easy identification of the banknotes.

The banknote incorporates SICPA’s SPARK® Live optically variable ink feature in the shape of a soldier’s helmet shown on the front of the banknote, along with Louisenthal’s RollingStar® windowed security thread, which displays dynamic effects and changes from green to blue when the banknote is tilted. The new note also includes a ‘tactile’ feature to assist people with vision impairments.

The new 500 zloty banknote was designed by Andrzej Heidrich and produced by Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW).

Lari Series

The second award was made to the National Bank of Georgia, for the introduction of a new series of lari notes. This is the first redesign in the currency’s 20 year history, which begins with a new 20 and 50 lari with 5, 10 and 100 lari notes to follow.

The designs are based on the existing series, featuring Georgia’s cultural and historical heritage but with a distinctly different and more modern appearance.

Lari banknotes
National Bank of Georgia’s new Lari banknote series
The 50 and 100 lari feature SPARK® for the first time, while the 20 lari features OVI for the first time (as will the new 5 and 10 lari notes). The new notes also include a holographic stripe in which the image matches the portrait on the note, iridescent stripe and demetallised colour shift window thread. The mould-made watermark also matches the portrait, and is supplemented by an electrotype with the denomination and the currency symbol for the lari.

Additional security features include visible and UV fluorescent fibres, latent image, see-through feature and microtext. In addition to the ascending order in the size of the notes, the visually-impaired have also been catered for by the use of raised intaglio bars on either side of the note, the number of which denote the denomination.

The award was received by Mariam Zavradashvili of the National Bank of Georgia.

20,000 Tenge

The first award was presented to the National Bank of Kazakhstan for the new high denomination 20,000 tenge banknote.

Like other notes in the Kazakh series, the imaginatively-designed note is vertically-orientated and was introduced in December 2015. It is the world’s first circulating banknote to be produced on Durasafe® – the composite paper-polymer-paper substrate from Swiss papermaker Landqart.

The three-layer substrate has enabled a number of unique features to be created. Each layer is a different colour on either side, and each of the two paper layers have different security fibres.

The note also features four windows, all formed in either one or both of the outer paper layers. As well as offset, intaglio, and silkscreen OVI®, a SPARK® Dynamic motif, combining silkscreen and intaglio blind embossing, was applied.

The design features the Kazakh Eli monument to Kazakhstan’s independence, the winged horse and the Mangilik El triumphal arch as well as a contour map of Kazakhstan, and a panorama of the capital, Almaty, on the reverse.

The award was presented to Dastan Mashrapov of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and Andrey Shevchenko from the Banknote Factory of the National Bank.

20 Zloty

The regional Banknote of the Year Award recognises outstanding achievement in the design, technical sophistication and security of a banknote or banknote series, the key judging criteria being that successful banknotes should combine visual artistry and high levels of technical and security sophistication, with considerable emphasis placed on reflecting the cultural heritage of the issuing country in the note, and the relevance of the overall design and symbolism to the issuing country.

The new 20 Zloty note features three security features that have not featured on a circulating banknote before – Latitude, Aurora and Metalix. The banknote, which commemorates the centenary of the formation of the Polish Legions, features an image of Belvedere Palace in Latitude, the world’s first substrate-integrated diffractive optically variable device using silver nanoparticles that are not restricted to patch or stripe formats.

The note also includes an Aurora feature in the shape of tree leaves and the number 20 which shows a two-ink colour shift using angular metamerics. In addition, a striking blue Metalix – delivering a metalic ink effect – has been designed in the eye-catching shape of a large X made of blue ribbons.

The award was received by Marek Oles of the National Bank of Poland.

100 Rubles

The regional Banknote of the Year Award recognises outstanding achievement in the design, technical sophistication and security of a banknote or banknote series, the key judging criteria being that successful banknotes should combine visual artistry and high levels of technical and security sophistication, with considerable emphasis placed on reflecting the cultural heritage of the issuing country in the note, and the relevance of the overall design and symbolism to the issuing country.

The Russian Sochi banknote is the first ever issued to mark the Winter Olympic Games – and its eye-catching design is the result of collaborative work between Goznak and the Central Bank’s team. It is the first time that the Bank has used a vertically-orientated design, chosen to emphasise the uniqueness of the Sochi region, which combines the proximity of mountains and warm sea. A total of 20 million pieces have been put into circulation.

The design of the new note reflects both the character of the host city and the nature of the event with a flying snowboarder on the front and the Olympic Stadium on the back set against a patchwork motif background featuring various winter sports. The note also incorporates several security features previously unseen on Russian banknotes, including a holographic patch and a 15mm wide polymer thread which changes image depending on the viewing angle. The award was received by Alexey Salunin of Goznak.