As a member of the Eurosystem, Banque de France, the French central bank, is said to be the euro area’s leading bank note manufacturer.

It has produced close 20 billion euro bank notes, or 22% of the total volume of euro notes since the single currency came into being in 2002. Besides that, it devotes half of its manufacturing capability to printing bank notes for about 20 foreign countries. It also has a research and development division concerned with areas such as substrates, security features, and solutions to increase bank note durability. A subsidiary, Europafi, is the Eurosystem’s test center for all questions related to bank note paper.

It is these latter categories that offer the rationale for the announcement on June 21 that Portals Paper, a security paper supplier, signed a license agreement with the Banque de France for a multi-layer bank note technology called EverFit, that it deems well-suited for circulation in harsh conditions, although no claim was made that it would be used for the euro.

A press release described EverFit as “a multi-layer banknote technology built around a specialist cotton-based high security paper core, that once printed and secured is laminated on each side by a protective layer.”

It was developed by the Banque de France’s Printing Works, after several years of research and development. It involves a combination of a specific paper formula, a highly adhesive film and lamination under exacting conditions on a dedicated machine such as a “NotaLamina,” that is done after the printing process is completed.

Portal said, “This long-term collaboration with the Banque de France will enable customers to combine the benefits of the security features uniquely available in cotton-based banknotes with the durability benefits of polymer for handling surfaces — our customers really will get the best of both worlds!”

Notes produced with the material are already in circulation in several countries.

The Central Bank of Madagascar found that EvertFit increased a bank note’s lifetime by a factor of four over varnished bank notes under the same conditions, with positive environmental and cost consequences.

A descriptive video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1QjAtrHsuk.

Connect with Coin World:  
Sign up for our free eNewsletter
Access our Dealer Directory  
Like us on Facebook  
Follow us on Twitter