Currency round-up

Paraguay: The Central Bank of Paraguay announced on October 5 that it would introduce a new banknote series from 2023.

The BCP said the move would help combat counterfeiting and introduce more up-to-date security features. The new series will also standardise the format of banknotes, as the country’s existing banknotes are a mix of different issues designed over decades.

The central bank also said it wanted to incorporate new imagery and produce more durable currency. It said it would preserve the existing structure of denominations, but change the colours of some of the notes.

The BCP will continue printing lower-value notes on polymer, and higher-value denominations on cotton paper. The bills will be of different lengths to assist people with visual impairments in differentiating between them.

The central bank said it would design the new notes itself, but plans to hold an international tendering process to find a printer.

Thailand: The Bank of Thailand has admitted that some of its existing polymer 20-baht notes carry a printing error. The Arabic-numeral serial numbers do not match up with the Thai numbers.

In its press statement issued on September 29, deputy governor Wachira Aromdee said the banknotes’ printer, De La Rue, had found an “error (attachment) in the manufacturing process that prevented the normal inspection process from detecting it”.

The BOT included a short statement from De Le Rue, dated September 28. De La Rue said “the affected notes form a small part of a print supply contract for 100 million banknotes awarded to De La Rue by the Bank of Thailand in 2020”.

The printing company said it was conducting an investigation, but that it “understands the root cause” of the printing error “and has put corrective actions in place”.

The central bank – which said it had ceased distributing the notes – stressed that they remained legal tender but could be exchanged at banks.

The Bank of Thailand introduced the polymer 20-baht note in March 2022, as part of a banknote issue that debuted in 2018. These are the first notes to feature King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama XI), who succeeded his father as Thailand’s monarch in late 2016.

Peru: The estate of a Peruvian artist may sue the Central Reserve Bank for the unauthorised use of one of his images on the 20-soles banknote. Peruvian website Sudaca reported that the image on the banknote, of 20^th century author José María Arguedas, appears to be a near-copy of a photo taken by Baldomero Pestana.

Sudaca quotes Pestana’s heir, Carmen Rico, who accuses central bank staff of “appropriating the property of others”. Rico told Sudaca that “we are not going to sit idly by”.

The central bank told Sudaca that it considered its artwork a “completely different creation”, though one inspired by Pestana’s photograph. Sudaca quotes Alonso Jimenez, a BCRP legal expert, saying the central bank had considered copyrighting its design.

Sudaca says the central bank used another Pestana photograph – this one of politician Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre – without permission in the 1980s.

The current 20-soles note first entered circulation in 2021.

Costa Rica: The Central Bank of Costa Rica has said it has received images that are supposedly of counterfeit versions of its new polymer banknotes, it tweeted on October 5.

The central bank said “we received an alert regarding a supposed counterfeiting of 10,000-colón bills printed on polymer”. But it added that it “has not received the samples to verify what is shown in the photo circulated on social networks”.

Costa Rican media reported that San José police had uncovered two instances of people trying to pay with fake 10,000-colón polymer notes.

The central bank introduced a new series of polymer banknotes in 2020 and 2021. Costa Rican authorities decided to replace the previous paper banknotes in part because criminals were frequently counterfeiting them. The paper 10,000-colón note ceased to be legal tender on October 1.

The Judicial Investigation Department, a Costa Rican police agency, told Central Banking that it had located a counterfeiting operation making fake polymer notes in the city of Pococi in January. A police spokesperson told Central Banking that the notes were of very poor quality.

Tonga: The National Reserve Bank of Tonga warned the public on October 4 that counterfeit notes were circulating in the island country.

The central bank said the fake notes were in the 20-pa’anga, 50-pa’anga and 100-pa’anga denominations. “These counterfeit banknotes are usually of poor quality and can be spotted quite easily if people take the time for a quick examination,” the central bank said.

The NRBT introduced the current issue of banknotes and coins in 2015, to mark the accession of King Tupou VI.