Method for measuring the public's appreciation and knowledge of bank notes
Hans A. M. de Heij · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2002
No matter how sophisticated a banknotes' security features are, they are only effective if the public uses them. Surveys conducted by the De Nederlandsche Bank (the Dutch central bank, hereinafter: DNB) in the period 1989-1999 have shown that: the more people like a banknote, the more they know about it, including its security features; there is a positive correlation between the appreciation of a banknote (beautiful or ugly) and the knowledge of its security features, its picture and text elements; hardly anybody from the general public knows more than 4 security features by heart, which is why the number of security features for the public should be confined to a maximum of 4; the average number of security features known to a Dutchman was about 1.7 in 1999; over the years, the awareness of banknote security features gradually increased from 1.03 to 1983 to 1.7 in 1999, as a result of new banknote design and information campaigns. In 1999, DNB conducted its last opinion poll on NLG-notes. After the introduction of the euro banknotes on 1 January 2002, a new era of measurements will start. It is DNB's intention to apply the same method for the euro notes as it is used to for the NLG-notes, as this will permit: A comparison of the results of surveys on Dutch banknotes with those of surveys on the new euro notes (NLG) x (EUR); a comparison between the results of similar surveys conducted in other euro countries: (EUR1)x(EUR2). Furthermore, it will enable third parties to compare their banknote model XXX with the euro: (XXX)x(EUR). This article deals with the survey and the results regarding the NLG- notes and is, moreover, intended as an invitation to use the survey method described.