Banknote security using a biometric-like technique: a hylemetric approach

Banknote security is an issue that has led in the last decades to insert, inside the banknote itself, a very high number of controlling methods with the aim of verifying possible tampering attempts. In order to distinguish the false banknotes, sophisticated means (i.e. watermark, feel of the paper, raised print, metallic threads, quality of the printing, holograms, ultraviolet features, micro-lettering, etc) are often used. The purpose of this paper is to show a new approach and related method to protect banknotes and to verify their originality, based on the idea of hylemetry (methodology conceptually similar to biometry) applied to banknotes. Specifically, the hylemetric feature used in this paper is the random distribution pattern of the metallic security fibers set into the paper pulp. The outcome of the proposed solution is to identify an original banknote using a binary sequence derived from the banknote itself.