A brief history of a cat and mouse relationship
Counterfeiting is a game of responding to new bank note security features. Security printing is a game of anticipating and responding to the threat of counterfeiting. It’s a centuries-old, no-holds-barred rivalry affecting every aspect of a bank note.
Going medieval on counterfeiters
The earliest paper currencies were created to represent large amounts of difficult-to-transport coins. More like a receipt than a bank note, this one represented 1,000 copper coins.
Source: 1 kwon, Ming Dynasty, China, 1368–99 | NCC 1963.48.39
Back in the 14th century, China’s Ming Dynasty issued some of the world’s earliest paper money. But the emperor’s bureaucrats were no fools. They knew that criminals would already be hard at work trying to copy it. So, each note carried a warning:
Those using counterfeit notes will be executed. Informants will receive 250 liang of silver and the entire property of the criminal.”
There is no record of how well this warning worked, but we can safely assume there were no repeat offenders. Paper money came and went for the next few hundred years, not becoming a regular feature of Western economies until the 18th century.
The 19th century: A counterfeiter’s playground
The banking industry was booming in early 19th century North America. It was also essentially unregulated—a golden age both of counterfeiting and security printing innovation.
Early 19th century bank notes were printed in black ink on one side. They were not much of a challenge to a good counterfeiter.
Source: 2 dollars, Agricultural Bank, Montréal, Lower Canada, 1820 | NCC 1963.51.2
This “Counterfeit Detector” booklet listed information about known counterfeits in circulation.
Source: reproduction, John S. Dye, United States, 1880
Security printers met counterfeiters’ challenges with high-quality papers, later adding coloured dots (planchettes) and watermarks. When fraudsters began reproducing notes using photographic processes, printers introduced coloured inks. But counterfeiters removed the coloured ink from real notes, reproduced the black portions photographically and later applied the coloured parts to their fakes with another process. This particular battle resulted in notes printed with a green ink nearly impossible to remove—and the American “greenback” was born.
But high-quality engraving was still a key defence for security printers. Sir Isaac Newton (of gravity fame) was the master of the British Royal Mint for nearly 30 years. He once said that “good graving is still the best security.” However, in the 19th century there were plenty of highly skilled engravers around—and not all were honest.
Intaglio printing simplified: An artist would hand-engrave a reversed design into metal. Ink was pushed into the cuts and wiped from the blank areas. The plate was pressed against paper, resulting in raised printing you can feel.
Source: 1 ecu, printing plate, Cuvillier & Sons, Canada, 1837 | NCC 1974.263.7
This note is by master counterfeiter Edwin Johnson. His skills were as good or better than legitimate security engravers of his day.
Source: 4 dollars, forgery, Dominion Bank, Canada 1871 | NCC 1967.50.2
Guilloche: The security printer’s trump card
What characterized older bank notes also made them more secure: guilloche (pronounced ghee-osh) patterns. A machine called a geometric lathe produced guilloche. It repeatedly rotated and rocked a metal plate against a cutting tool, subtly changing with each movement. The patterns generated were geometric, like those of a Spirograph but a whole lot more complicated. Reproducing an existing guilloche pattern with another machine (or even the same machine) was nearly impossible, so a counterfeiter would need to recreate the pattern by hand. A daunting task.
The extraordinary guilloche pattern surrounding this number prevented “raising”—changing a bank note’s value (denomination) to a higher number.
Source: 1 dollar, Canada, 1937 | NCC 1973.247.1
A geometric lathe was a serious piece of engineering and machining. Neither cheap nor easy to obtain, it also required a skilled operator.
Source: geometric lathe, Chapman Geometric Lathes, United States, early 20th century | NCC 1979.142.1
The late 20th century: A heyday of innovation
After the 19th century’s burst of innovation, things slowed down. Through the Bank of Canada’s first three series of notes, most counterfeit protection came from simply designing new bills. But heading into the 1960s, counterfeiting had again become a serious problem. The time had come to get innovative—and more colourful.
In 1970, a new and extraordinary Canadian $20 bill appeared. It had multiple shades of green with gradually fading magenta overtones. The coat of arms was brilliantly coloured, intricate patterns filled blank areas, and whimsical guilloche patterns twisted and drifted elegantly around the denominations. It was so unlike previous notes that some Canadians doubted it was real money.
In the 20 years between these notes (1937-1954), design philosophy had radically changed. Yet, apart from new paper, the security features were pretty much the same.
Source: 2 dollars Canada, 1954 | NCC 1967.44.2 2 dollars, Canada, 1937 | NCC 1965.136.6584
The subtle fading of colour could only be done easily with lithography. This note heralded the beginning of the Bank of Canada’s extensive use of that printing process.
Source: 20 dollars, Canada, 1969 | NCC 1970.166.1
The striking appearance of the Scenes of Canada notes was a direct response to security threats. If simple monotone notes were easy to copy, then a note of great detail and colour should stop counterfeiters in their tracks. And it did. But it wouldn’t for long. A dangerous new counterfeiting tool was already on its way: the colour photocopier. It would make short work of replicating colour and detail. So, before it had even issued all of the Scenes notes, the Bank began exploring a new approach. This is a case of security printing anticipating a threat, not just responding to one.
Canada wasn’t alone in this shift to multicoloured bank notes. They began popping up across the world in the late 1960s. Dutch money would be wildly colourful until the coming of the euro in 1999.
Source: 5 gulden, 25 gulden, Netherlands, 1971| NCC 1972.296.2 NCC 1976.116.17
Back to simplicity
The response to modern imaging technology was, oddly, a step back to the simplicity of the 1954 bank note series. It was expected that any tell-tale flaws generated by photocopying might be difficult to see in an elaborate or busy design. Instead, a simple, clean design with lots of open space was proposed. But those seemingly empty spaces were full of a new sort of feature: microprinted words and lines. And the lines were the key. Fine and closely spaced, they appeared as blank, toned areas. But when scanned or photocopied, curious waves—called moiré patterns—emerged.
The fine lines behind the birds are supposed to be straight and parallel. If you see wavy patterns anywhere on a printed note, it’s a fake.
Source: 2 dollars, Canada, 1986 | NCC 1986.42.3
A new bag of tricks
The Birds of Canada series was also the first in the world to feature what is called an optical security device. It is a metallic patch that changes colour when tilted and can’t be reproduced by any imaging process. Similar technology appeared later in the Canadian Journey series as an elegant holographic stripe that changed colour as you shifted the note. It was more sophisticated—and more beautiful—than the patch.
The Canadian Journey $5 bill was first released in 2002 and later became popular for counterfeiters. After it was reissued with the holographic band in 2006, counterfeiting dropped to nearly nothing.
Source: 5 dollars, Canada, 2002 | NCC 2005.82.5 5 dollars, Canada, 2006 | NCC 2009.9.2
The Journey series was an anti-counterfeiting minefield. Random threads were embedded throughout the paper and ghost images of the portraits haunted seemingly blank spaces. Microprinting and patterning carpeted nearly every centimetre not occupied by an image. One feature was visible only under ultraviolet light. Lastly, a curious half-completed number was printed on each side. Viewed against a bright light, the number completed itself if the back and front were exactly aligned—a near impossible printing task for your average counterfeiter.
The 21st century: The era of digital technology
And what about modern scanners and image editing software? The Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group is a global body that supports and deploys technologies that make it impossible to counterfeit currency using digital equipment. Thanks to their work, if you were to try to scan a Canadian bank note, the software would recognize it and refuse to scan.
Plastic is the new paper
The Reserve Bank of Australia introduced polymer bank notes to the world in 1988. With clear windows and striking colours, the notes were a bit of a sensation. Canada followed suit in 2011 with the Frontiers series of notes. In 2018, the Bank of Canada issued the vertical $10 note on the same unique substrate. All of Canada’s polymer notes offer a variety of security features that make them easy to check and hard to counterfeit.
Canada’s current bank notes are made of a single piece of polymer. If the note feels like it has a seam, you could have a counterfeit on your hands.
Source: 100 dollars, Canada, 2011 | NCC 2012.68.2
Do you have a counterfeit?
There are four tricks you can use to check if the Canadian notes in your pocket are real or fake: Feel, Look, Tilt and Flip.
Here are a few examples of how you can check the current Frontiers notes.
- Feel the portrait, the large number and the words “Bank of Canada” on the front of the note. You should find the ink is raised.
- Look at the metallic portrait in the large transparent window. It should match the large portrait on the front of the note.
- Tilt the top of the note toward you. You should see colour changes in the metallic portrait and other holographic features, on both the front and back.
- Flip the note over and make sure the metallic elements on the front of the note are repeated in the same colours and detail on the other side.
Any no’s? Take the note to the police, or to your bank. Don’t spend it!
The stats speak
Back in 2004, before the introduction of our polymer bank notes, over half a million counterfeit bank notes were found circulating in the Canadian economy. That number dropped with the arrival of the Frontiers series, and was down to just over 22,000 notes at the end of 2024. Check out the Bank’s interactive statistical graphs on counterfeiting for more information.
Centuries-old intaglio printing is still used on bank notes in areas such as the portrait. Of course, the vertical $10 also supports a suite of modern security features.
Source: 10 dollars, Canada, 2018 | NCC 2018.75.1
What comes next
Understandably, we can’t say much about the innovations that the Bank of Canada is researching. A whole team of engineers, chemists and other specialists are constantly testing new features and working with experts in the global security industry.
What we can tell you is that the next $20 bank note, which will be issued in early 2027, will have some brand new security features so that Canadians can continue to use their money with confidence.
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