Security Features: Embedded Threads

Hold up your paper bills to the light and, depending on the denomination, you will immediately see one or two vertical lines within the banknote. They are there as security features to make it very difficult for counterfeiters to imitate real currency. Likewise, they are there to help you differentiate the counterfeit from the genuine.

Embedded security thread
The embedded security thread is a special thread vertically implanted off center of the note during the manufacture of the banknote paper. This can easily be seen when the note is viewed against the light. It appears as a broken line for 5’s, 10’s and 20’s and straight line for 50’s, 100’s, 200’s , 500’s and 1000’s. Try folding the banknote along this line and you will feel the distinct stiffness of the thread. With some determination, it is also possible to manually remove these threads from the banknotes - but don't do that! It's illegal.

On the photo above, the embedded security thread is the solid vertical line on the left.

Windowed Colorshift with Cleartext Security Thread
This is a 1.4 mm security thread vertically located like “stitches” at the face of the note. It changes in color from magenta to green or green to magenta depending on the angle of view. When viewed against the light, it appears as a single solid line and the corresponding denomination of the banknote will show through. This security feature is only present in the 100s, 500s, and newer 1000-peso bills.

The BSP does not buy coins higher than face value

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) formally announced that it does not buy coins at prices higher than their face value.

The BSP is most likely referring to the hearsay that it is buying back 10 peso coins allegedly containing gold. One of our anonymous readers claimed that someone even bought his his or her 10 peso coin for 1000 pesos. In sulit.com.ph, the 10 peso coin is also being sold for 1000 pesos.

“The BSP is the sole issuer of currency in the Philippines. It mints and circulates coins in accordance with its mandate to supply the currency requirements of the banking system and sustain economic growth. It determines the different denominations of our money, both banknotes and coins, and the public should accept them at face value, no more, no less,” says the Bangko Sentral media release.

In the same announcement, the BSP also reiterated that defacing/mutilating and the smuggling of Philippine coins “are criminal acts punishable by law under Presidential Decree 247 and BSP Circular 98, Series of 1995 in relation to Section 2530 (f) of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, as amended.”

Please report any information against these criminal acts to the BSP.

A whole sack of shredded money

-removed by request of BSP-
:)

100 Peso Bill - English Series

(photo courtesy of Sonny Ronquillo)
One Hundred Peso Banknote

1949 English Series

Obverse: Tandang Sora (Melchora Aquino) and the Central Bank Seal
Reverse: various flags of the Katipunan

Signatures: Philippine President Elpidio Quirino and Central Bank Governor Miguel Cuaderno, Sr.

Text
Obverse: Central Bank of the Philippines. This note is a liability of the Central Bank of the Philippines and is fully guaranteed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. One Hundred Pesos. This note is legal tender in the Philippines for all debts, public and private. Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd.
.

How are banknotes made?

Ever wondered how the paper money we have in our wallets are printed?

Banknote printing is actually a complicated process that requires sophisticated equipment that is usually only available to central banks of issuing countries. In the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral gives us a simple outline of how they do it:

The making of a banknote starts with the conceptualization of design. The concept is drawn by an artist into a prototype banknote. Once the prototype is approved, a master die is prepared from which printing plates are produced. Production then takes place involving the following steps:

Litho Printing. Impressions are printed on a rubber blanket cylinder. These are in turn transferred to the sheets of banknote paper. Both sides of the sheets are printed simultaneously with multi-color or rainbow background prints.

Intaglio Printing. After the background colors are printed, engraved features of the banknote are printed at the intaglio machines, which produce the tactile or embossed effect on the banknotes.

Sheet Inspection. The printed sheets are inspected for printing faults. Defective notes are cancelled and incinerated for security reasons.

Numbering. The good sheets go to the numbering machines for the printing of serial numbers.

Tenning. Numbered sheets undergo inspection of every tenth sheet for other printing defects which were not detected earlier.

Finishing. The numbered sheets finally go through finishing which involves cutting into notes, counting, packaging.

Here's a video courtesy of howstuffworks.com describing how dollar bills are printed in the US. This process should be similar to how the Bangko Sentral does it in the Philippines.