PNG BANK NOTE’S ‘TRADITIONAL EVOLUTION’ CONTINUES WITH K2, K50 & K100 LAUNCH

19 October 2018 -- One of the world’s toughest note circulating environments, Papua New Guinea, will welcome the latest and final addition that completes the new series this month – the Kina 2, 50 and 100 – delivered by Note Printing Australia (NPA). 

When the Bank of Papua New Guinea decided to embark on a new modernised series that kept its traditional aesthetic at the centre of the new notes, NPA was required to deliver a series of technical and security improvements to produce a banknote that preserves PNG’s heritage while making its commitment to future technology tangible.  

“NPA has a long standing and close working relationship with the Bank, and an intimate understanding of their product from the design to the handling,” says Dean McGrath, NPA’s Head of Technical Services.  “NPA has produced many commemoratives over the last 15 years that provided critical insight into the requirements of the new series.  What we learned is that the PNG public value very highly the traditional narrative as it forms a dominant part of their national identity.”    

NPA’s strength in bring this culturally-sensitive design narrative to life from complex design and security feature requirements is evident in the preservation of PNG’s traditional aesthetic across the whole note family while upgrading security. This design integration challenge had to be thought through carefully.

For example, for the first time on a polymer note the SPARK® Live TRUSPIN Feature is integrated into the window (in the K50 & K100 banknotes). The feature is viewable on both sides of the clear window and can be viewed in reflection and transmission which each provide different visual effects. 

View the Bank of Papua New Guinea’s collaboration with NPA on the new banknote series

With the design integration challenge addressed in the early stages of the project, the additional requirements were to accommodate the structural change of standardising the height of the notes and critically, finding ways to maximise the durability of the note using the latest technology and note construction techniques.

 “We know how tough the PNG conditions are in circulation, and NPA has developed strong expertise in adhesion of security features to polymer.  The use of the SPARK® Live TRUSPIN Feature on these notes is therefore well prepared for this challenge.”

 In addition, NPA’s focus on continuous improvement in the performance of banknotes from series to series, using commemoratives to test technology improvements along the way, has resulted in a number of technical changes from the substrate up.

 “We worked closely with CCL Secure on this project to ensure NPA’s printing and security advances on this new series are seamlessly integrated with Guardian™ polymer substrate technology,” says Mr McGrath.