Printing Bank Notes: New 200 Franc Note in Switzerland    

Copyright Header Picture: Schweizerische Nationalbank

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has presented the new 200 bank notes. It’s the fourth of the six denominations of the ninth bank note series. The inks for the new Swiss bank note series are mixed on mixing and fine dispersion machines from Uzwil by Bühler Grinding & Dispersing.

Requirements for Printing Bank Notes

Printing bank notes means special demands in terms of security and quality. In case of the new Swiss bank note series, security printing inks are used. They are finely dispersed, i.e. comminuted and mixed, on three-roll mills. “By using our technologies and equipment in their production processes, our customers can meet top security, quality, and reliability standards in making their bank notes,” says Cornel Mendler, Managing Director of the Grinding & Dispersing unit, which develops ink production solutions. In terms of colour design, the new 200 note remains with the previous series: it bears the basic colour brown. In terms of design, the note thematizes the scientific side of Switzerland. The most important element is matter.

Consistently high Quality

There are around 55 million 200-note notes in circulation in Switzerland. Now they are replaced step by step by the new notes. To produce such quantities of bank note colour in consistently high quality it requires precision at all stages of the process. „The roller technology we use in our machines produces consistently high ink quality. Reproducibility is one of the most important criteria for our customers,“ says Norbert Kern, responsible for process technology at Bühler Grinding & Dispersing. This is due to the high manufacturing accuracy and the wear-resistant rolls. The VIVA™ roll technology is manufactured by Bühler by centrifugal casting, reinforced by a selection of ceramic materials. VIVA™ rolls are not cambered and – unlike conventional rolls – are therefore not thicker in the middle than at their ends. Thus, the VIVA roll produces uniform ink quality over its entire length, regardless of how much press force is applied.

Inspired by Chocolate

The Grinding & Dispersing division has adopted the technology for the production of printing ink from the food sector: Rolling mills were originally developed for refining chocolate mass or for grain milling. „Rolling mill technology is part of Bühler’s DNA,“ says Cornel Mendler. Bühler has been developing and improving three-roll technology for more than 100 years. Products such as metal pastes for the electronics industry, lubricants, offset inks, artists‘ inks, and bank note inks are still produced today on Bühler`s three-roll mills.

Joint Venture with Other Swss Companies

The new, ninth Swiss bank note series is even more Swiss than publicly known. In addition to the design by the SNB, the printing by Orell Füssli Sicherheitsdruck AG and the production of bank note paper by Landqart AG, Bühler also contributes to the cash supply of Switzerland with its mixing and fine dispersion machines. Thanks to Bühler machines, the last bank notes of the new series, the 1000 franc note and the 100 franc note, will also receive their violet and blue colors.

Forward-Looking Picture of Switzerland

For the first time in Switzerland, the new bank note series has no celebrities as motifs. The SNB justifies this by saying that people are always associated with a look back at the past. Instead, the SNB wants to convey a forward-looking picture of Switzerland as a whole.