BOKISSONTHRONE: Countering the Counterfeiters: The Art of Making Money

Future Finance showcases future trends related to the global financial system.

One of the winning designs for what will be the newest Norwegian 100 Krone ($15) note. Norges Bank, the Norwegian central bank, recently held a competition to design its latest banknotes.

Mexico (pictured), Mozambique, Northern Ireland, Costa Rica and Lebanon are just a few of the nations to introduce polymer banknotes. Part of the polymer film is often left clear to give a transparent window in the banknote, making forgeries more difficult. Additional security features can be embedded into the polymer note.

The crafty Catalan, it is said, would write out a check for the required amount and sign on the dotted line. Just before handing the payment over, however, he would pull the piece of paper back and pen an elaborate doodle on the opposite side.

"An original from the master Dali. I will never cash this check," would inevitably be the reply from the starstruck restaurant owner thrilled to be gifted an artwork that would doubtless be of greater value than the amount on the check itself.

The Bank of England announced earlier this year that it would introduce new polymer £5 and £10 notes by 2016, featuring former prime minister Winston Churchill and author Jane Austen respectively. According to Bank of England governor Mark Carney, polymer notes are "the next step in the evolution of banknote design."

By perfecting the magic checkbook technique, Dali would rarely, if ever, have to pay for his dining habits.

But currency expert Thomas Hockenhull, of the British Museum, says the latest in paper money technology, such as the newest UK £50 note, can be more difficult to forge than polymer notes. The £50 note includes raised ink, a metallic thread embedded in the paper, and a number "50" that appears in red and green under ultraviolet light.

Hockenhull also highlights the U.S. $100 bill, as being a particularly advanced paper note in terms of its security features. These include an image of a color-changing bell inside a copper-colored inkwell. Tilting the note makes the bell seem to appear and disappear inside the inkwell.

People might not horde the recently revealed 100 Norwegian Krone ($15) banknote in the same manner -- but it too is a work of art in its own right.

On one side, a giant viking boat makes progress upon a tranquil sea, sails blowing in full glory. On the other, an abstract interpretation of a pixelated ocean ebbs and flows like a game of watery Tetris.

Norges Bank, the Norwegian central bank, held a competition to design the front and back of the new note, which will come into circulation in 2017. The winning designs, announced earlier in October, were submitted by Norwegian graphic designers The Metric System -- Terje Tonnessen and Snohetto.

According to Norges Bank, the winning designs display "artistic flair" that emphasize Norway's close relationship with the sea, but are also "suited to the incorporation of necessary security elements." These will include machine-readable elements and anti-counterfeiting measures.

Such high-tech accoutrements are now a common feature of the most modern banknotes. But art, the aesthetic and items of cultural significance are also a major consideration when designing the latest money.

According to the curator of the British Museum's Modern Money Collection, Thomas Hockenhull, the art by itself isn't a particularly reliable security feature given the "advancement of scanning and printing technology."

"Those are maintained primarily to preserve public confidence in the note," Hockenhull said. This paper note from Kazakhstan's national bank contains an array of important national symbols mixed with advanced holographic strips that complement the design.

This paper note from Kazakhstan's national bank contains an array of important national symbols mixed with advanced holographic strips that complement the design.

Not all paper money needs a funky design or futuristic security hologram to stand out or get noticed, however. This $100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) note from Zimbabwe is bound to grab anyone's attention.

A number of countries have shunned paper money, however, and turned to polymer plastics as a way of defeating counterfeiters. Australia became the first nation to manufacture all of its notes from polymer -- a thin, flexible polypropylene film.

But, he added, when combined with complex measures like watermarks, moving color elements and the latest in polymer and paper technology, a detailed image can make forgery more difficult.

Legend has it that when the surrealist painter Salvador Dali had to pay for an expensive restaurant meal he would twizzle his famous mustache and arch his eyebrows before beguiling his host into letting him dine for free. High-tech security efforts are now a common feature of new currencies. When combined with detailed artworks or designs they can make the job of forgers more difficult. Canada's newest bank notes, for example, contain holographic features alongside expert calligraphy, metallic illustrations, and raised text.

High-tech security efforts are now a common feature of new currencies. When combined with detailed artworks or designs they can make the job of forgers more difficult. Canada's newest bank notes, for example, contain holographic features alongside expert calligraphy, metallic illustrations, and raised text.

The Bank of Canada has produced bills in recent years that illustrate this elaborate synergy. Holographic and transparent features accompany state-of-the-art calligraphy that officials claim is nearly impossible to duplicate.

Instead of using paper, the newest Canadian notes are made from a polypropylene substrate and feature a large transparent window through which you can see a metallic portrait above a metallic building. Beneath the portrait the word "Canada" is also transparent and is slightly raised.

Other security features include a smaller frosted window with a maple leaf design, which has a transparent outline and contains hidden numbers only visible when lit up with a small light.

Similar plastic and transparent elements can be found on the latest colorful currency from the likes of Guatemala, Australia and Nicaragua, Chile and Malaysia.

The United States and United Kingdom, meanwhile, are at the forefront of the most complex paper currencies out there, Hockenhull said.

The new British £50 note includes raised ink, contains a metallic thread embedded in the paper, and has a number "50" that appears in red and green under ultraviolet light.

Among other features, the newest U.S. $100 bill has a 3-D blue ribbon woven into the paper, next to Benjamin Franklin's face. When the note is tilted, images of bells and the number 100 move from side to side, and up and down. The bill also has raised print, a color-changing number 100 in its bottom right corner, and microprinted text on Franklin's collar -- all carefully incorporated to make forgery more difficult.

But complex though these designs may be, to our knowledge, a method to counter Dali's magic checkbook has yet to be devised.