Currency Case Study

The Issue

To protect the integrity of its notes, banknote issuers and security agencies must routinely monitor suspect counterfeiting activity to quickly and covertly shut down criminal operations. A major banknote issuer had no means of enabling its security agencies to forensically verify the authenticity of it’s banknotes in the field during covert operations. The method of forensic authentication used by the Issuer at the time required laboratory analysis. This meant transportation of the suspect notes to a designated laboratory capable of testing the notes, resulting in critical time losses and inefficiencies with consequent costs and chain of custody implications.

The Solution

After consultation with the note issuer and the security agencies, Authentix developed tailored Quantum Photonic Markers that were incorporated into the banknote, and a customized, field-deployable reader was designed for use by the security agencies during field investigations. In addition to visualizing the covert markers to provide a unique fingerprint of the substrate, the reader is portable, enabling real-time verification of suspect notes.

The Outcome

These custom developed readers have been supplied to the note issuer’s appointed agencies, and are now in active use for forensic field authentication. Prior delays in transporting suspect notes to the laboratory have been avoided. The success of the solution led to its wider adoption on other denominations at risk of counterfeiting.