OUGD505 STUDIO BRIEF TWO - BANK NOTE SECURITY RESEARCH

Banknotes are something people will always wish they have more of, and to stop people forging and copying banknotes, they have special security features that can't be replicated by outside companies, and features that identify them from forged notes to make them more secure.

The Bank of England talks through it's security features on the £5 Elizabeth Fry banknote:
- Raised print on text such as the "Bank of England".
- There's a metallic thread embedded in every banknote. On the £5 note it appears as silver dashes. If you hold the note up to light, the dashes will appear as a continuous line.
- The queens head will appear in the watermark when you hold it up to the light.
- The print quality of the banknotes is high, and there will be no smudges or blurred edges.
- The lettering underneath the portrait of the Queen is actually made up of very small letters and numbers.
- When looking at the front of the £5 note under an ultraviolet light, you will see the number 5 appearing in red and green, and the background is dark and dull.
- There's a hologram on the foil patch on the front of the £5 note. When tilted, the image will change between a brightly coloured picture of Britannia and the number 5.

Security features on the £50 note:
- The motion thread on the £50 note is woven into the paper. It has five windows along its length which contain images of the £ symbol and the number 50. When the note is tilted from side to side, the images move up and down. When the note is tilted up and down, the images move from side to side and the number 50 and £ symbol switch.
- The same as the £5 note, the £50 also has raised print.

- Metallic thread the same as the £5 note.

- If you hold the note up to the light, you'll see an image of the queens head and a bright £50 in the watermark.

- The same as the £5 note, the print quality is high on the £50 note and free from smudges or blurred lines.

- If you hold the £50 note up to the light you'll will see coloured irregular shapes printed on the front and back that combine to form the £ symbol.
- If you look at the front of the £50 note under a good quality ultra-violet light the number 50 appears in bright red and green. The five windows of the motion thread also appear in bright green. Randomly spread bright red and green flecks are also visible on both the front and back of the note. The remainder of the note appears dull in contrast.

Comments:

As you can see there are a great deal of security features in the notes which contribute to it's security and ability not to be forged or reproduced. There is a great deal of thought put in to making the notes as secure as possible, and so many methods are used to make it as difficult as possible to copy. This is something that I must put a lot of thought into during the design process of my bank notes, to ensure they maintain the same level of security.