Banknote
Polymer banknotes

In 1983, Costa Rica and Haiti issued the first Tyvek and the Isle of Man issued the first Bradvek polymer (or plastic) banknotes; these were printed by the American Banknote Company and developed by DuPont. These early plastic notes were plagued with issues such as ink wearing off, and they were discontinued. In 1988, after significant research and development in Australia by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australia produced the first polymer banknote made from biaxially-oriented polypropylene (plastic), and in 1996, Australia became the first country to have a full set of circulating polymer banknotes of all denominations, completely replacing its paper banknotes. Since then, many other countries have adopted circulating polymer banknotes, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Hong Kong SAR (China), Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, the Philippines, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vietnam, and Zambia. Other countries have issued commemorative polymer notes, including China, Kuwait, the Northern Bank of Northern Ireland, and Taiwan. In 2005, Bulgaria issued the world's first hybrid paper-polymer banknote.

Polymer banknotes were developed to improve durability and prevent counterfeiting through incorporated security features, such as optically variable devices that are extremely difficult to reproduce.
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