Microscopic Evaluation of the Security Printing Techniques Applied on Historical Banknotes — Case Study: Serbian Dinar Banknotes from 1905 to 1996
Gordana M. Jauković, Predrag M. Živković · Универзитет уметности у Београду, Факултет примењених уметности eBooks · 2022
This paper presents a part of interdisciplinary research of banknotes issued by the National Bank from the year 1905 to 1996.A complex history of the Serbian state and monetary transformations of the National Bank during the 20 th century involved manufacturing banknotes in different printing factories in Europe and the United States of America, which considered different techniques of printing and the application of different security features.Therefore, this research aims to demonstrate and evaluate the applicability of the optical microscope to identify the printing technique used for manufacturing, as well as differences in the printing process and the application of security features in the historical banknotes of Serbian dinar currency from different periods.For each analyzed specimen, several different features of the banknotes (watermark, serial number and security printing techniques on 6 to 10 points) were considered.Differences were revealed in the security printing technique processes through seven states and monetary transformations with special emphasis on the differences observed within the period from 1920 to 1944.These observations have raised some authenticity questions and provided common ground for numismatic researchers and scientists to get interested in developing an analytical protocol for evaluating the security printing process applied on historical banknotes.The methodological complexity of this research raises the need for the development of a compiled database of archive data on the issuance, manufacturing, graphic design, and security printing techniques used to produce banknotes.Therefore, the obtained results can be used to draw comparisons between periods of the establishment of monetary unions in Eastern and Central Europe, especially in the Republic of Serbia, and to protect the monetary cultural heritage from counterfeiting.