A fellow on facebook is minting and
selling silver coins with a QR code on them. When scanned the QR
code directs you to a site that gives you the current value of
silver. Sometimes I think that the internet gives us to much
information. I'm not sure I like the idea of carrying a coin that
has such a rapidly varying value.
 |
One Ounce .999 Fine Silver Round freshly minted Commodity Discs
these Silver Medallions are struck with the QR code on one side (for the Current Spot Silver Pricing easily displayed from any smartphone) |
This got us thinking about QR codes on
currency. This is an idea that has been knocked around for the past
few years. The Dutch produced a coin in 2011 with a QR code on it.
That QR code pointed to the website of the Royal Dutch Mint and
played a video about the mint and the coin.
Interestingly, the present Dutch five
euro coin has fingerprints on it. I guess the QR code wasn't "mark of
the beastish" enough, so the Dutch are now putting biometrics on their
coins. The fingerprints form a map of the world. They are the
fingerprints of family members of Tine Melzer, the coin designer. This is also the first coin to feature the image of King Willem-Alexander since his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicated the throne.
Also in 2011, Sweden began looking into
putting QR codes on their currency. The idea died, however, because
of “security concerns”. The good news for Sweden though is that now
there are invisible QR codes. Last year, these were being considered for currency
to prevent counterfeiting.
New 'nano-code' Could Help Fight Banknote Forgery by Embedding Invisible QR-style Ciphers
PARIS - Scientists on Wednesday
reported they had invented an invisible tag using the widely-used
"quick response" code to help thwart banknote forgers and
criminals who sell bogus drugs or fake vintage wine.
The QR code is a square of black and
white pixels that can be scanned by a smartphone, which then links to
an Internet address.
It is being used more and more by
museums and companies who want to provide additional information
about an exhibition, product or service, but the idea here is to use
it as a form of authentication.
Writing in the British journal
Nanotechnology, materials engineers led by Jon Kellar at the South
Dakota School of Mines and Technology says their invention comprises
a QR code made of nanoparticles that have been combined with blue and
green fluorescent ink.
The code, generated with standard
computer-aided design (CAD) equipment, is sprayed onto a surface --
paper, plastic film, office tape, glass -- using an aerosol jet
printer.
It remains invisible until the object
is illuminated by a near-infrared laser.
The nanoparticles absorb photons at a
non-visible wavelength but emit them in a visible wavelength, a trick
called upconversion that causes the QR code to pop up almost like
magic and allow itself to be scanned.
