Security Features in a Banknote paper

Security Features Available for  the  Paper are as below:

§      Water Mark

§      Security Thread

§      Fluorescent Fibres

§      Iridescent Planchets.

§      Colour of Paper and Security Dyes.

§      Iridescent Coating

§      STEP

§      LEAD

 

Water Mark

Water Mark is nothing but an image created by varying the distribution of fibres within in an area of the paper. Water Mark can be lighter or darker than the surrounding sheet with or without gradations

 

Security Thread

The first security thread was a silk thread embedded into the bank note paper. Security thread is an important feature against counterfeiting. Initially silk thread was used as security thread. Now a days cellulose film is used.

 

FEATURES OF SECURITY THREADS

§     Plain

§     Machine readable

§     Micro lettered

§     Rainbow coloured

§     UV Fluorescent

§     Magnetic

§     Optically Variable Security Thread

 

Fluorescent Fibres

Cotton Fibres on the paper which has the quality to fluoresce under Ultra Violet light source.

 

Iridescent Planchets

Iridescent planchets are round discs of paper or plastic of approximately 2mm dia added during the paper manufacturing stage. Unlike fluorescent fibers these planchets can be seen only in reflected light in bright and radiant  colours at 45 ⁰ angle. This is a very strong anti counterfeit feature especially for colour copying.

 

Colour of Paper and Security Dyes

Security dyes usage in paper colour is common with most of the security documents, to make a permanent mark if any attempt made to tamper the document, there by identifying the tampered document very easily.  The unique feature of a bank note paper is its quality and colour. The dyes used in normal paper manufacturing fluoresces under Ultra Voilet light, Where as the special dyes used in manufacturing the bank note paper doesn't fluoresce under Ultra Voilet light. The complete absence of fluorescence from paper itself makes the bank note paper distinct from the papers available in the market.

 

Iridescent Coating

It is a text or Graphic stripe usually in pastel colours. This coating is applied at the end of the manufacturing process by screen-printing process. The colours change depending on the viewing angle and reflection of light

 

STEP

 This is an Optically Variable device applied to the paper surface after its manufacturing at factory itself. The acronym of STEP stands for Shimmery Twin Effect Protection. STEP provides basically two predefined colours unlike iridescent coating.

 

LEAD

 This is a holographic stripe applied in the paper manufacturing plant before the paper is cut into sheets. The acronym LEAD stands for Long-lasting, Economic Anti-copy Device. It is large enough to include designs and numbers that can be easily recognized without mechanical aids.