January 07, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) Plc, has said best international practices were followed in the production of the redesigned N1000, N500 and N200 new notes, recently unveiled by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The company, also referred to as The MINT, is responsible for producing Nigeria’s currency, the Naira.
MINT, in a statement signed by its Managing Director, Ahmed Halilu, said its attention has been drawn to various clips, skits, concerns and comments on diverse platforms regarding the quality of the redesigned notes.
Halilu said the redesigned naira notes were of the same substrates as the existing ones and passed through the same printing processes and finishing procedures.
MINT further explained that “the new banknotes are generally light when issued, then become heavier in circulation on getting in contact with dirt and moisture.”
It added that “the second stage of currency printing (intaglio) requires a heavy deposit of special inks with fairly large particles to give a tactile feeling of the portraits, as well as other raised prints by way of design.
“One of the properties of intaglio inks is non-solubility in water and ease of transfer (light stain) on plain white materials owing to the size of the particles.
“This is generally a security feature of all banknotes that easily differentiates them from forged or counterfeit notes.
“The naira is our legal tender and national symbol. We, therefore, urge Nigerians and other users of the naira banknotes not to subject our banknotes to experiment, in order to prove a point.”
