A Path to the Next Generation of U.S. Banknotes-Keeping it Real (BMED)

Released 02.26.07

The rapid pace at which digital printing is advancing is posing a very serious challenge to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Printing (BEP) to stay ahead of the evolving counterfeiting threats to U.S. currency. To help meet that challenge, the BEP asked the NRC to undertake an assessment of technologies and methods to produce designs to enhance the security of U.S. Federal Reserve notes (FRNs). This report presents the results of a systematic investigation of the trends in digital imaging and printing and how they enable emerging counterfeiting threats; the identification and analysis of new features of FRNs that could provide effective countermeasures to these threats; and an overview of a requirements-driven development process that could be adapted to develop an advanced-generation currency.