Bank of England Museum

                    Exhibition

The Changing Faces of the Monarch's Image

For more information visit: www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum

   IBNS East Midlands Branch meeting 2009, Pam is closest to the ground

International Bank Note Society

There are many branches of the IBNS around Britain 

Just come along   All welcome   

  London IBNS Meetings

            www.ibnslondon.org.uk

Victory Services Club, Seymour Street. 6. 30pm  Thursday Nights

 2010

July 29th                Simon Narbeth  A photographic archive walk through Scottish Notes

August 26th          Jaime Sanz  Paintings on Spanish Notes

October 28th        DVD Film  The night they robbed the Bank of England

November 25th     Simon Narbeth's  Quiz and retire to the Bar! Last meeting of the year

 No meetings September / December

World Paper Money Fair  

1st  2nd  October    World Paper Money Fair   2010
    Mermaid Conference Centre, London

Friday 1st    10am Early Bird - IBNS Members £15 - Non Members £25  

                    Open to all  1pm to 6pm - IBNS Members £3 - Non Members £5

Saturday 2nd   Open to all 10am to 5pm - IBNS Members Free - Non Members £3 

 For more information see  www.ibnslondon.org.uk

  East Midlands IBNS Meetings

East Midlands meet last Saturday of every odd month 1.30pm to 4.00pm 

at Wollaton Park Community Association, Harrow Road, Wollaton Park, Nottingham.

Further information contact: simonbid@ntlworld.com

  Burnley IBNS Meetings

Nelson House, Nelson Square, Burnley.

For details contact: Geoff Sutcliffe  01612828063  

  The Bank Note Society of Scotland

Meetings held in Edinburgh.

for details contact me: pamwestbritnotes@aol.com

    Also click on LINKS

The 2010 Banknote of the Year

INTERNATIONAL BANK NOTE SOCIETY CHOOSES

Bermuda Monetary Authority - 2 Dollars

The 2009 Banknote of the Year

INTERNATIONAL BANK NOTE SOCIETY CHOOSES SAMOAN Banknote 

After reviewing government banknote issues worldwide last year, the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) has selected their Banknote of the Year from among the many countries that issued new currency designs in 2008. This year, the International Bank Note Society’s Board of Directors has chosen as the most attractive new issue of 2008, the Central Bank of Samoa’s 20 Tala note. Samoa’s 20 Tala banknote beat eight other banknotes nominated by IBNS members, two of which were also from the Pacific region.
With striking, eye-catching yellow and gold colours and bold and innovative security devices, the 20 Tala note easily eclipsed its competition in the views of the IBNS judges. The judges liked the Central Bank’s emphasis on tourism, achieved by highlighting one of the nation’s picturesque waterfalls—a refreshing departure from the standard practice of portraying famous persons on paper money. The reverse design was also praised for featuring Samoa’s national bird, the Manumea, and the national flower, the Teuila; the two symbolizing the uniqueness of Samoa’s natural environment.
Sharing the spotlight with the Central Bank of Samoa is the designer and printer of the banknote, UK-based De La Rue Currency, one of the world’s foremost producers of paper money and securities. De La Rue’s creative blend of state-of-the-art security features and design elements maintains its long tradition of superior banknote design and printing, significantly adding to the appeal of the 20 Tala banknote, according to the IBNS Board.
The International Bank Note Society is proud to commend the Central Bank of Samoa and De La Rue for producing and issuing the 2009 Banknote of the Year.

PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

SAMOA BANK NOTE WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD

New 20 tala bill is ‘Bank Note of the Year’

APIA, Samoa (Samoa Observer, April 13, 2009)—The Samoan 20 Tala currency note has won the International Bank Note Society’s (IBNS) ‘2009 Bank Note of the Year’ award.
The IBNS is an Organisation founded in 1961 with the objectives of promoting, stimulating and advancing the study and knowledge of world banknotes and paper currencies.
It has some 1,750 members throughout the world who collect, research, and write about aspects of paper money.
And, for a number of years, the IBNS has made an award to recognise an exceptional banknote issued each year.
The award recognises the artistic merit, imaginative design, and use of security features in the winning banknote.
In his letter advising the Central Bank of Samoa of the award, the IBNS President Mr. Peter Symes stated that "of the nine notes short listed for our award this year, the 20 Tala note was a clear winner."
Mr. Symes went on to congratulate the Central Bank of Samoa and the printers of the note, De La Rue and Company, on the magnificent achievement, not only in producing the Bank Note of the Year, but also in preparing a meritorious range of notes in the new series of banknotes.
The design theme of the 20 Tala note is ‘Nature and the Environment.’ These are represented by the Sopoaga waterfall and native forest in the front, and our national bird and national flower at the back of the note. Like other notes in our new family of banknotes, the 20 Tala exhibits a vibrant colour palette which is an important part of the Bank’s design brief.
Our traditional Samoan tattoo designs background all the notes in the new family of banknotes.
The new Tala series of currency notes is the first since the 1980s to involve a complete redesign.
This follows a decision by the Central Bank to introduce new designs and upgrade to the latest banknote security features, especially after experiencing many counterfeiting problems with the previous issue.
On receipt of the notification of the award, the Governor of the Central Bank of Samoa, Leasi Papali’i Scanlan, said he was both "gratified and pleased" at the recognition received by Samoa’s new banknotes,
praising the close collaboration between the Bank and De La Rue on the award winning design.
The Central Bank has been further advised that our same 20 Tala note has also won the ‘Bank Note of the Year’ award for a German Numismatic Publication called the Munzen & Sammeln.
Samoa Observer:
Copyright © 2009 Samoa Observer. All Rights Reserved

 The 2008 Banknote of the Year

INTERNATIONAL BANK NOTE SOCIETY CHOOSES SCOTLAND 

The International Bank Note Society (IBNS) is delighted to announce that the Bank of Scotland’s 50-pound note has been awarded the Society’s Bank Note of the Year for a bank note issued in 2007.
In a ceremony today in the Bank’s Edinburgh Head Office, representatives of the IBNS presented certificates and medals marking this award to Graeme Donald, Head of Industry and Products, Payment Services at HBOS plc, the parent company of Bank of Scotland plc; and Stuart Rost, Banknote Designer at De La Rue Currency.
The IBNS judges considered the 50-pound note to be a bold design and an outstanding representative of the new series of notes issued by the Bank of Scotland in September 2007. Dominating the note is an ethereal portrait of Sir Walter Scott giving the note an intriguing ambiance considering the range of traditional and modern features on the note. Sir Walter has appeared on many notes issued by the Bank of Scotland, but this is the first representation of Scott based on the famous portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn, painted in 1822. The innovative depiction of Scott is one aspect of the note that found favour with the judges.
Blessed with generous proportions, the note is impressive to hold and uses the available space to excellent effect. The front of the note has been designed around Scott’s portrait and incorporates a range of security features, the most evident of which are a hologram on a foil patch and a wide micro-printed security thread with colour shifting effect (red to green). These elements create a framework around which are images of the Bank’s historic headquarters in Edinburgh, its coat of arms, the Bank of Scotland’s logo and, very much subordinated to the dominating portrait of Scott, the promissory text. In contrast to this, the denomination numerals are set out in dramatically bold fashion using a clean simple font style.
The back of the note is if anything even more dramatic. It features one of Scotland’s most exciting contemporary engineering and architectural achievements, the Falkirk Wheel. The minimal text, again in bold and simple style, serves to enhance the drama of the central feature, to hugely impressive effect.
Contributing to the judges’ decision was the combination of traditional skills and modern technology used by the note’s designers, De La Rue Currency – especially the fact that the portrait engraving was produced using computer generated patterns and was not hand-engraved in the traditional way.
The 50-pound note was a clear winner in this year’s competition, impressing the judges with its artistic and technical excellence, its unusual and innovative design and its superior production. The IBNS congratulates Bank of Scotland plc and De La Rue Currency on their outstanding achievement.
18th April 2008