Are the Beijing Winter Olympics commemorative banknotes made of plastic? In fact, the banknotes of these countries are not "paper" either

The ice sports commemorative banknote issued by the Beijing Olympics has been sought after. It is a plastic banknote. Aren't banknotes supposed to be made of paper? Are there any differences in the materials of banknotes in different countries around the world?

Compiled by New Media Editor Li Yunfeng

Recently, among the commemorative banknotes issued for the Beijing Winter Olympics, the ice sports commemorative banknotes have been sought after by everyone. In addition to its super high appearance, it has another feature. This is the first plastic banknote with completely independent intellectual property rights in China, and it is also the first plastic banknote independently developed by an Asian country. More importantly, it is the first plastic banknote in the history of the Olympic Games.

▲Appearance of the ice sports commemorative banknote (Photo source: WeChat official account of "People's Bank of China")

If you look closely at this plastic banknote, you will find that the transparent area underneath looks like a layer of crystal ice. This effect is due to the base film of the plastic banknote - the polymer film.

▲The transparent part of the ice sports commemorative banknote (Photo source: WeChat official account of "China Banknote Printing and Minting")

The base film of plastic banknotes is a multilayer film made of polypropylene through biaxial stretching technology, referred to as BOPP film. If it is used to print banknotes, it is necessary to overcome the shortcomings of this material, such as soft collapse, difficulty in ink adhesion, easy thermal deformation, and severe static electricity. Scientists have achieved the "transformation" of the film by means of raw material innovation, structural innovation, and process innovation.

There are four main processes in the production of plastic banknotes. The first is the plastic base film; the second is coating, which is to process the plastic base material into paper so that ink can be printed on it; the third process is printing; and the last process is anti-counterfeiting treatment.

Aren't banknotes supposed to be paper? Why are there plastic banknotes? I found out that the materials of banknotes in different countries are really different. Let me sort them out for you.

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RMB: The main component is actually cotton

When it comes to the material of banknotes, we must first talk about the RMB in our country. In everyone's impression, paper is made of wood pulp, but did you know that the main component of our country's banknotes is actually cotton, and it is high-quality colorful long-staple cotton produced in Xinjiang?

▲Colored cotton, an important raw material for banknotes (CCTV video number: CCTV9 Records)

Of course, making banknotes is definitely inseparable from wood pulp, but not every tree can do this. The tree used to make RMB in our country is called the jasmine tree, which is a high-grade fiber plant and a top-grade raw material for making high-grade paper, rayon and cotton. The fiber of jasmine is very soft and not easy to break, so it is an important raw material for making RMB banknotes. Our banknotes will not break even if they are folded thousands of times, and its role is indispensable. In English, the jasmine tree is called the Oriental Paper bush, indicating that this plant has an inextricable relationship with the papermaking industry. In addition to making banknotes, the bark of jasmine is also used to make traditional Japanese "wa paper".

▲Japanese paper (Photo source: Internet)

In addition, the use of multiple anti-counterfeiting technologies such as optically variable ink printing, coded fluorescent ink printing, invisible denomination numbers, horizontal and vertical double numbers, two-color horizontal numbers, yin and yang complementary printed patterns, offset microtext, red and blue color fibers, gravure tactile lines, anti-copy marks, white watermarks, etc., makes the RMB almost impossible to counterfeit.

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USD: Raw materials come from “recycled resources”

(Image source: Internet)

The US dollar (USD) has always been regarded as the strongest hard currency in the world. It is the main currency for international payments and foreign exchange transactions, and has always occupied a "dominant" position in the international foreign exchange market. The US dollar is beautifully printed, with a smooth face, uniform thickness, and a tough texture. It does not deform when exposed to moisture, and will not leave any marks even if it is folded tens of thousands of times. But did you know that the paper used to make the US dollar that is now circulating around the world is not made of expensive high-grade wood, but is produced using household garbage as raw materials.

The raw materials for printing US dollars are waste from the textile and garment industry - scraps, rags, fabric fragments, fiber balls, and people's discarded worn-out clothes, rotten sofa covers, torn carpets, old curtains, etc. These household wastes are low-cost and abundant in "supply", many times cheaper than natural wood, and the quality of processed materials is much better than the secondary use of waste paper.

It is worth mentioning that the printing factory that produces US dollars is a private enterprise in the United States - Crane Paper Company. In 1979, Crane developed a papermaking material using household garbage as raw material, and the paper quality was excellent. Finally, with its exquisite quality, low cost and good reputation, it defeated many powerful competitors in the procurement bidding of the US Treasury Department and won the exclusive patent for supplying US dollar paper. Moreover, in the following 20 years, Crane Company has always won the contract for US dollar paper firmly in its own hands. Because they use household garbage as raw materials, they have also made contributions to the use of "renewable resources", energy conservation and emission reduction, and environmental protection. No wonder even the most critical Wall Street securities companies have signed contracts with Crane Company to use the globally used securities paper provided by it. Because of these, the new proverb "Gold comes out of garbage" was born in the United States.

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Australian dollar: the world's first plastic banknote

(Photo source: Magic Investigation Bureau)

Since 1992, Australia has issued a plastic banknote every year to replace the current paper banknotes. By 1996, all plastic circulating banknotes had been issued, making Australia the first country in the world to have a complete set of plastic circulating banknotes.

According to Australian media reports, the manufacturing cost of this type of banknote is twice that of paper money, but its lifespan is at least four times that of paper money. In addition, its anti-counterfeiting features are easy to identify, it does not stick to dust or absorb water, and the materials used can be recycled, making it very environmentally friendly.

(Photo source: Magic Investigation Bureau)

The prospect of plastic banknotes is very promising. At present, more than 20 countries and regions including Australia, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, Romania, Vietnam, Germany, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, China use plastic banknotes, but Australia is still the only country that uses a full set of plastic banknotes. In fact, in Hong Kong, China, the 10 Hong Kong dollar banknote also uses plastic materials.

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Japanese Yen: Well Made and Hard to Counterfeit

Japanese yen banknotes are recognized as one of the most difficult currencies to counterfeit because of their excellent paper, printing, and watermarks. The paper is a synthetic paper, and Japanese specialty Mitsukoshi bark pulp is added during the manufacturing process. It is tough and has a special luster, a crisp sound, and is light yellow. The larger the denomination, the darker the color. At the same time, anti-copying ink is used, and the ink used for uppercase denominations and portraits is magnetic.

According to folklore, the actual cost of each Japanese yen note is equal to its face value. In other words, if you want to forge a counterfeit yen note that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, the cost is almost equal to the actual price of the real note.

(Photo source: China Business Weekly)

In addition, in November 2004, the Bank of Japan issued a new series of 1,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 10,000 yen banknotes, which added barcode watermarks and improved optical variable anti-counterfeiting measures compared with the 2000 version of the 2,000 yen banknotes. The 5,000 yen and 10,000 yen banknotes use holographic films, and the 1,000 yen banknote uses a technology of superimposing pearlescent ink on the intaglio invisible denomination numbers, and the denomination numbers have different effects when viewed from different angles.

(Information compiled from CCTV Video, China Daily, Science Academy, China Business Weekly, China Knowledge Network, Magic Investigation Bureau, etc.)

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Produced by: Beijing Science and Technology News | Beijing Science and Technology Media

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