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| © Provided by CBS Interactive Inc. Some of De La Rue's designs include the Fijian dollar and the… |
In the U.S., the government prints stamps, paper money and passports,
but that's not the case for much of the rest of the world. Many nations
have these items created by a single private firm based just outside
London. CBS News' Roxana Saberi goes inside De La Rue, a company that's
been in business for more than two centuries and is known for offering
clients both style and security.
Big Ben turns to gold and turtles take a ride in wallets when designers at British company De La Rue transform ideas into money.
"Beneath
the pretty designs is a piece of national infrastructure. Economies
rest on banknotes," De La Rue creative director Julian Payne told CBS
News' Roxana Saberi.
De La Rue has designed more than a third of the world's bills, from
the U.K.'s sterling to the Seychelles' rupee and the Fijian dollar.
While most Americans use credit cards, 30 percent of the world's adults
don't even have a bank account
"You have to understand how people
use their money. This is an example of how some people fold money in
sub-Saharan Africa, and then it's stored interesting places as well. So
they'll store it in clothes, in their underwear, in their shoes," Payne
said.
Meaning it has to be durable. It also has to be complex
enough to stay a step ahead of counterfeiters. As Payne put it, their
job is to make the money "uneconomic to copy."
The company's own
team of hackers tries to copy the designs which often involve
sophisticated security details like holograms and ultra violet imaging.
Head designer Steve Pond said balancing security with durability and
design isn't easy.
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"You're
trying to pack a lot of stuff into a very small space. You're trying to
be technically competent, you're trying to be innovative….It challenges
you. you're only as good as your last jobs," Pond said.
De La
Rue also tries to address what's happening in that country. They
reflected the low-lying Maldives' concerns about the environment by
featuring a turtle in their design and helped commemorate the 100th
birthday of the late Nelson Mandela.
"Every country has their
heroes and wants them portrayed in a way that is respectful. In a way
that also symbolizes and summarizes in a simple way that people can just
get," Payne said.
Sometimes though, people just want to forget
and move on. When Saddam Hussein fell in 2003, De La Rue drew up new
Iraqi bills without his image. They designed and printed new bills for
the country in record time.
The company also marked the release
of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" with a limited edition bill to raise money
for charity. And when designs like these come together, Pond says, the
payoff is priceless.
"As a designer of bank notes, you get to see people holding your art every day," Pond said. "You know it's a fantastic thing."
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"As a designer of bank notes, you get to see people holding your art every day," Pond said. "You know it's a fantastic thing."
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