‘China thinks in centuries, not in years’ – Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State & author of book ‘ON CHINA’.

In the evolving landscape of currency design, the boundary between scientific innovation and artistic expression is blurring. Central banks have long sought features that are not only impossible to replicate but also intuitive for the public to verify.

The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) has introduced an upgraded version of its highest-value banknote, the 500 Seychellois rupee (SCR), replacing the superwide Optiks thread (which has now been discontinued as a security feature) with a holographic stripe. The new 500 rupee banknotes entered circulation in December 2025.

The Central Bank of Turkmenistan has unveiled a new series of banknotes, designed and printed by De La Rue on SAFEGUARD® polymer, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s recognition as a permanently neutral state. Included in the upgrade are the three lowest denominations – the 1, 5, 10 manats – along with a new high denomination 200 manat. The previous highest denomination was the 100 manat, and the series also includes 20 and 50 manats.

The Central Bank of Madagascar (Banky Foiben’i Madagasikara) has enhanced the security of its 10,000 Ariary and 20,000 ariary banknotes with a Moov™ security thread from IN Groupe.

Around the world, 166 issuing authorities circulate 1,007 banknote denominations in regular use, excluding commemoratives. According to data from the Reconnaissance DataVault, Asia leads the global charts with 314 active denominations, reflecting the region’s scale, diversity, and rapid monetary development.

Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) has announced its new family banknotes series in the denominations of BND1, BND5, BND10, BND100 and BND500, scheduled to enter circulation in the first half of 2026.

KURZ Banknote Security’s production site in Sulzbach-Rosenberg in Germany celebrates its 30th anniversary this year (see HOT News August 2025), in honour of which the company has produced a series of celebration ‘Tree of Life’ notes themed around the beauty and strength of nature and the passage of time.

The Bank of Botswana has unveiled a 50 pula banknote commemorating its first Olympic gold medallist, sprinter Letsile Tebogo, who won the 200 metres, and the men’s 4 x 400 metre relay team that he anchored to a silver medal, at the Paris Olympic Games last year.

In the July edition of Holography & Optical Technology News®, we spotlighted Q&T Hi-Tech Polymer’s POLYSECURE SHIELD – the polymer banknote substrate with an embedded OVD. In this issue, we continue our coverage of banknote anticounterfeiting innovations with a look at the CBRI’s new approach to window security features, blending fluorescent effects with fine-pattern transparency directly in paper substrates.