Bosnia and Herzegovina: New Banknotes with Improved Security Features

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Bosnia and Herzegovina refreshes banknote pool

Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina announces injection of fresh banknotes to replace worn-out ones; notes match European ones for paper and security feature standards.

Author: Central Banking Newsdesk

Source: Central Banking | 24 May 2012

The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 23 announced that a new issue of banknotes would enter circulation on June 1, 2012.

The notes in the denominations of 10, 20, 50 and 100 convertible marka are being added to the currency in circulation as part of the regular process of keeping an "adequate denomination structure" for cash payments in the country, the central bank said.

"The new banknotes will replace the banknotes in circulation from the previous issues, which have been withdrawn from circulation over the past years, due to their worn-out condition," said the central bank. "Banknotes from the previous issues, whose quality is satisfactory in accordance with [central bank] standards, will remain in circulation as the legal tender."

The latest banknotes in Bosnia and Herzegovina feature improved paper quality and security features that provide better quality and durability, as well as protection against counterfeiting to the same level as European banknotes have, the central bank said.

Wanting to allay any concerns over an inflationary impact of the new notes, the central bank reassured the public that each issued convertible mark will be covered in foreign currency at a fixed rate.

The new issue of banknotes will have the printing year '2012' on the front, below the signature and the word 'GUVERNER'.

There are also other notable differences to previous issues to further protect against counterfeiting. The new banknotes have a multi-tone watermark with the theme of sculptures located at the main entrance of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina building. Below the sculptures' theme, each denomination has a highlight watermark, showing the value of a banknote.

A security thread also runs through the new notes, it is fully embedded in the paper and the text displays the value of the banknote.

The 10 and 20 convertible marka notes feature a 10mm wide iridescent stripe running vertically through the entire reverse side of the banknote. When the banknote is viewed at different angles, the stripe has an iridescent effect and changes the colour.

The 50 and 100 denominations show their values in the lower right corner of the reverse side of the note, the number is printed in a special optically variable ink. The colour-changing effect is seen when the banknote is viewed at different angles.

Source: Central Banking