Find Constellations on your Money
Since 1996, the world’s treasuries have been printing a secret constellation on almost every paper currency in the world.
In addition to shipping over 15 million spiders per day, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is also in the business of printing millions of constellations.
The EURion Constellation
Coined the “EURion constellation” by computer security expert Markus G. Kuhn because he first noticed it on EURO notes, the EURion constellation consists of a pattern of five 1 mm circles.
The constellation is arranged roughly the same as the astronomical constellation of Orion. The pattern of small circles is often repeated in a much larger group of circles. In addition to Euro notes, the EURion constellation appears on redesigned U.S. bills, German marks, British pounds, and the national currency of over thirty other countries.
On some bills, the circles are very obvious. On others, they are carefully integrated with the currency’s design, such as forming musical notes in an unlikely short music score on the 20 pound British note.
Why Money Needs Its Own Constellation
The EURion constellation was added to currency to help computer software detect the presence of a banknote in a digital image. Once detected, the program can block the user. This prevents users from using color photocopiers to counterfeit money, for example.
The design details of the EURion constellation remain secret, although there must be at least a handful of people who know all about it due to the fact that so many copier machines (Xerox, etc.) and computer programs (Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, etc.) across the world detect the pattern.
As for the inventor, a patent application suggests that the design of the pattern and the detection algorithm were worked on at OMRON Corporation.
Read More: EURion, EURion constellation, money, currency, printing, counterfeit
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A litte trivia to soothe a mind in these trying times.
You find the most interesting things.
It’s a VERY interesting world ;-)