The EURion constellation (also known as Omron rings or doughnuts) is a pattern of

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

s incorporated into a number of secure documents such as

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

s and ownership title certificates designs worldwide since about 1996. It is added to help

imaging software In computer graphics, graphics software refers to a program or collection of programs that enable a person to manipulate images or models visually on a computer. Computer graphics can be classified into two distinct categories: raster graphic ...

detect the presence of such a document in a digital image. Such software can then block the user from reproducing banknotes to prevent

counterfeiting To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

using colour

photocopier A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopier ...

Description

The name "EURion constellation" was coined by security researcher Markus Kuhn, who uncovered the pattern on the 10 Euro (€10) banknote in early 2002 while experimenting with a

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from St ...

colour photocopier that refused to reproduce banknotes. Markus Kuhn
The EURion constellation
Security Group presentation, Computer Laboratory,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, 8 February 2002. The pattern has never been mentioned officially; Kuhn named it the EURion constellation as it resembled the astronomical

Orion constellation Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous and recognizable constellations in the night sky. It is named after Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology. I ...

, and EUR is the

ISO 4217 ISO 4217 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that defines alpha codes and numeric codes for the representation of currencies and provides information about the relationships between individual ...

designation of the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

currency. The EURion constellation first described by Kuhn consists of a pattern of five small yellow, green or orange circles, which is repeated across areas of the banknote at different orientations. The mere presence of five of these circles on a page is sufficient for some colour photocopiers to refuse processing. Some banks integrate the constellation tightly with the remaining design of the note. On 50 DM German banknotes, the EURion circles formed the innermost circles in a background pattern of fine concentric circles. On the front of former Bank of England Elgar £20 notes, they appear as green heads of musical notes; however, on the Smith £20 notes of 2007 the circles merely cluster around the "£20" text. On some U.S. bills, they appear as the digit

zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by Multiplication, multiplying digits to the left of 0 by th ...

in small, yellow numbers matching the value of the note. On

Japanese yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the ...

, these circles sometimes appear as flowers. Technical details regarding the EURion constellation are kept secret by its inventors and users. A 1995 patent applicationMitsutaka Katoh, et al.: Image processing device and method for identifying an input image, and copier scanner and printer including same. Omron Corporation, . suggests that the pattern and detection algorithm were designed at Omron Corporation, a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese electronics company. It is also not clear whether the feature has any official name. The term "Omron anti-photocopying feature" appeared in an August 2005 press release by the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible f ...

. In 2007 the term "Omron rings" was used in an award announcement by a banknote collectors society.

Usage

The following table lists the banknotes on which the EURion constellation or Omron rings have been found so far. Current currencies for which all recent banknotes use the constellation are in bold. EURion twenty

Other banknote detection mechanisms

Counterfeit Deterrence System

Since 2003, image editors such as

Adobe Photoshop CS Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...

or Paint Shop Pro 8 refuse to print banknotes. According to

Wired.com ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

, the banknote detection code in these applications, called the Counterfeit Deterrence System (CDS), was designed by the

Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group The mission of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group (CBCDG) (originally designated as Special Study Group 2 or SSG-2 of the G10) is to investigate emerging threats to the security of banknotes and to propose solutions for implementation by ...

and supplied to companies such as

Adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...

as a binary module. Experiments by

Steven J. Murdoch Steven James Murdoch is Professor of Security Engineering in the Computer Science Department, University College London. His research covers privacy-enhancing technology, Internet censorship, and anonymous communication, in particular Tor. He ...

and others showed that this banknote detection code does not rely on the EURion pattern. It instead detects a digital watermark embedded in the images, developed by Digimarc.Digimarc: SEC Filing, Form S-1/A, Exhibit 10.9
Counterfeit Deterrence System Development and License Agreement
24 November 1999.

Notes

# Some currencies (marked ^{��/sup>) were replaced by the euro before the complete adoption of the EURion constellation.

References

Further reading

* {{cite press release, title=Photoshop and CDS, publisher=Adobe Systems Incorporated, url=http://www.adobe.com/special/products/photoshop/cds.html

External links

The rules for currency image use
website of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group (CBCDG)

Nieves, J.; Ruiz-Agundez, I. & Bringas, P. (2010), 'Recognizing Banknote Patterns for Protecting Economic Transactions''Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA), 2010 Workshop on', IEEE, 247—249.

Money forgery
Currency production
Banknotes
Watermarking
Hardware restrictions
Computer-related introductions in 1996
2002 neologisms}

Description

Usage

Other banknote detection mechanisms

Counterfeit Deterrence System

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links