The 15,000 riel note issued by the National Bank of Cambodia to mark the anniversary of the King of Cambodia, HM Norodom Sihamoni secured the Best New Banknote at HSP Asia. The note symbolises the importance of the King, as the focal point of the whole Royal Household, for the newly reborn unity of the Cambodian people following decades of civil war and unrest.

Based on an original in-house design, the banknote also signifies a major technological milestone for the young Cambodian banknote industry, containing several unique features developed by the in-house design team in Phnom Penh.

The note was printed by the Printing Works of the National Bank of Cambodia on Landqart’s Durasafe composite substrate – the first time this has been used in Southeast Asia – and features include a see-through window and two half-windows.

The ornamentally shaped full window, with distinctly varying contours on the two sides of the note, contains an intaglio-embossed inkless feature (a floral pattern encompassing diversely directed lines) – while the two ornamental half-windows at the back are used to expose the 4mm-wide demetalised security thread with Cleartext, supplied by Hueck Folien.

Designed with social responsibility in mind, the note also has several highly tactile elements to facilitate recognition and authentication by the visually-impaired. Other features include a unique see-through image in perfect register, printed with three different UV fluorescent inks, a gradual colour transition in intaglio, and two-colour serial numbering combining two different numbering inks.