Armenia – Optimising its New Series through Design, Security and Substrate

What was the reason for the replacement of the banknote series?

Banknotes of the previous, second, series appeared in circulation in 1998. First, 50 and 100 dram banknotes were introduced, and then, in 1999, 500, 1,000, 5,000 and 20,000 dram banknotes appeared. Thus, our banknotes have already been in circulation for 20 years. This is quite a long time, so the Bank decided to issue a new series, the appearance of which was timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the national currency. The new notes are in denominations from 1,000 to 100,000 drams, and we have also issued a new 2,000 dram to optimise the series.

What has changed in the new notes?

The substrate has changed, new features have been incorporated and the design concept has been reworked in all denominations.

But not the 100,000 dram. Why didn’t you change the design of this?

It made no sense to modify the 100,000 dram banknote. This is a high denomination, it is well protected and is used by citizens relatively rarely, and there are still enough printed banknotes in the Bank’s vaults.

Why was it decided to change the substrate?

Currently, the lowest denomination of Armenian banknotes is the 1,000 dram. The lifetime of such banknotes in circulation is less than a year. The use of a stronger base ensures durability, which leads to savings of money spent on their issue. Of course, when making the decision to replace the substrate, the experience of other countries was studied. In some countries, low denominations are printed on a polymer base or on a hybrid, and high denominations on a cotton substrate.

But the Bank decided that all banknotes should be printed on the same material so that the population could easily recognize denominations by touch. Hybrid – which consists of a paper based coated on both sides with polyester – was the chosen substrate.

What savings do you anticipate, given that the costs of Hybrid are higher than those of paper?

Indeed, the cost of Hybrid material used is higher than cotton paper. However, taking into account that the lifetime of banknotes increases with it by 2-3 times, the Bank consider the costs to be very effective.

How did you select the banknote printer?

There was a closed tender, in which companies that print euro banknotes could participate. Giesecke + Devrient won as a result of a comprehensive evaluation of all offers.

Where was the design developed?

In Armenia. In the competition for the design, the works of three authors – Vardan Vardanyan, Edward Kurginyan and Suren Simonyan – won. The combination of their sketches was taken as a basis. The development of the final technical design was realised in cooperation with the specialists at Giesecke + Devrient.

How was the selection of security features conducted? How are Armenian banknotes protected now?

Initially, the Bank expressed its wishes regarding the security complex for new banknotes, and the manufacturing companies offered their security features. On the new banknotes, the already known security features have been preserved, and a new protection has also appeared. New Armenian dram banknotes, as before, are protected by two watermarks and ultraviolet marks. A transparent window with a clear image of the design element has appeared, as well as a two-colour iriodin stripe on the reverse side of the banknote.

Among the new security features there is a diving security thread with a color-changing effect. Previously, the banknotes had two thin protective threads – one completely embedded in the paper, and the other a windowed metallic thread.

They have been replaced by a wide security thread, Galaxy®, which contains bright 3D floating figures, an image of the symbol of the dram, and a demetallised inscription of the banknote denomination. The second security feature, which is easily recognisable by the population, is the colour-changing SPARK® Live. There is also a horizontally floating 3D element.