InkSure Announces Release of Machine Readable Taggants for Coin Authentication

NEW YORK, March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- InkSure Technologies Inc. (INKS.OB), the market leader in machine -readable taggants for authentication and anti-counterfeiting, has announced the release of CoinSure, a currency authentication solution for coins. CoinSure is a currency grade taggant-based technology that detects if a coin is authentic or counterfeit.  

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The CoinSure solution includes the addition of machine-readable taggants to coins during minting.  Taggants are chemical markers invisible to the human eye which act like a fingerprint; marking each item (in this case coins) with a unique code that can only be identified with a specially engineered reader. Once applied, taggants make items machine-readable and protected from counterfeit.

Authentication is carried out with a battery operated pen-sized reader that can be used to authenticate coins in the field. Authentication is performed on a single coin; the process takes less than a second.  Large volumes of coins can be authenticated at high speed with InkSure's in-line production reader, SortSure. SortSure is ideal for mints and central banks, where large numbers of coins need to be authenticated.

InkSure is in the process of filing an international patent application for the CoinSure technology under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

"Ever since InkSure integrated its machine-readable taggants into banknotes, our R&D division has tried to develop a similar solution for coins. We managed to create a solution that is absolutely accurate, reliable and can be used both in the field and during minting," said Tal Gilat, president & CEO of InkSure Technologies.

"Coins can be in circulation for up to 20 years. Our biggest challenge was finding a solution that would last for the entire life of the coin and we have found an innovative method and unique taggants to ensure that it does," said Viktor Goldovsky, Ph.D, head of business development at InkSure Technologies.

According to Astrid Mitchell, Editor of Currency News, with the exception of EMS, there are currently no machine-readable coin authentication solutions on the market. EMS, however, has its limitations because of the increasing move to plated metals which do not provide such a reliable signal.  Mitchell also believes that the lack of such solutions is impeding efforts to introduce higher denomination coins that could save issuers money. This, coupled with growing concerns over coin counterfeiting, is providing a ripe environment for new solutions such as CoinSure.

Coin counterfeiting has increased over the last several years as countries choose coins over bills for high denomination currency. Some currency denominations, such as the British one pound coins, have counterfeiting rates as high as 3% according to the latest survey of the British Royal Mint.

About InkSure Technologies Inc.

InkSure Technologies is the industry leader in machine-readable technology for currencies, tax stamps and anti-counterfeiting. InkSure's taggant technology is applied to tens of billions of high-value documents annually. The company targets a number of industry sectors, including finance, government, pharmaceuticals and transportation.

In 2011, InkSure was named one of the Top 25 Suppliers of Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Security Technologies by Global Identification Magazine and received a commendation from the IHMA for Best Applied Security Product. InkSure's CEO, Mr. Tal Gilat, was awarded the 2011 ID People Americas Award for his contributions to the anti-counterfeiting market.

InkSure is based in New York City, SEC regulated, and publicly traded under the symbol INKS.OB.

SOURCE InkSure Technologies Inc.