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Mitsubishi Introduces New Numismatic Technology
 | By Richard Giedroyc, World Coin News
May 21, 2008 |
Bank notes have come a long way in recent history. The watermark, serial number and intricate details appearing within vignettes on notes has long been a mainstay of currency in an effort to combat counterfeiting.
In more recent times bank notes have seen such security devices as micro-printing, solid security threads, windowed or interrupted security threads, front-to-back printing registration, color-shifting inks, holograms and bar codes added to currency. Some notes have a see-through window device, with a design imposed on the clear area that is able to be seen on each side of the note. Today bank notes aren't always composed of paper. Increasingly bank notes are now made of polymer plastic, a more durable substance that is also challenging to counterfeit.
It can be argued that until now the cutting edge of bank note technology has been led by Note Printing Australia and by Switzerland. Australia and Switzerland each export their technology, printing notes for other nations in addition to their own domestic needs. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in Japan now wants to enter this inner circle.
Jiji Press announced March 25 that Mitsubishi is launching "contact image sensors in late May that enable automated teller machines and other financial terminals to detect a special luminous ink used in bank notes."
These new sensors, according to the press release, are capable of reading special ink on bank notes that reacts to ultraviolet rays. Until now there has been no optical sensor able to respond to luminous inks. The reason is that ultraviolet radiation causes damage to what until now have been conventional materials for sensors. It is for this reason ATMs and vending machines that accept bank notes have been unable to read high-tech bank notes.
Mitsubishi Electric's new sensors are made of highly durable materials in order to endure long periods of ultraviolet radiation exposure, according to the company.
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