Some national currencies compete for not only stability and high values, but also for efficient design and durability. As for now, the winner in this “beauty contest” is the Australian dollar that has recently been recognized as the most advanced currency. Australia stays ahead of the curve.
The Australian banknotes are made of a special polymer but not of some paper or cotton fiber. The Australian dollar is dirt- and waterproof, so it always looks as it has just been printed. Besides, it is highly resistant to frauds. The Royal Australian Mint uses innovative technologies while producing the money and at the same time it pays attention to an aesthetical aspect. Thus, the bank presented the state-of-the-art new 5-dollar banknote. It has a hologram that animates a flying eastern spinebill, changing colors.
By the way, Australia was the first country to introduce polymer banknotes into circulation. It pioneered this technology in far 1988, and other countries such as Canada and Vietnam took up the lead. The United Kingdom started to use polymers to print pounds only in 2016. One more outstanding feature of polymer banknotes is that their period of use is twice or even thrice longer than a lifetime of paper money. It enables central banks to reduce the cost of replacement. For example, 10-dollar banknotes in the US should be replaced every 4.5 years.
