PWPW - Polish Bisons Project

The “Polish Bisons Project” was a collection of nine banknotes all printed with the same design but on different substrates. It was a way for PWPW to show the different substrates and coatings available for banknotes.

The prefix of each note indicates what substrate was used. PWPW have a webpage describing these substrates and prefixes here:

Banknote substrates PWPW PL

Eight of the notes are composed of paper as the main substrate and the ninth one is polymer. The nine notes were originally issued in a folder but individual notes frequently come up for sale online.

Each note has a teal iridescent ink design on the reverse:

Each note has a mirage effect on the obverse. A hidden design appears when the note is tilted. It is a circle with the words BISON BONASUS inside:

The notes do not have a watermark or security thread. Below is an FO prefix note (paper) under backlight:

All the notes have the same appearances under reflected infrared. Below is an FO prefix note (paper) under infrared:

There are differences between the paper notes and the polymer note under UV. The paper notes have UV-reactive fibres which the polymer note does not have. Also the polymer note has pronounced UV ink where the mirage feature is and the upper 20 on the obverse.

UV activity of a paper note at 365nm:

UV activity of a polymer note at 365nm:

© Brandon Bertolli

On the reverse of each note is a QR code which is specific to that substrate. The initial URL has the substrate identified in it, for example the FO note goes to http://pwpw.pl/en/Fortis

But regardless of which URL is initially picked up by the QR code, the browser is diverted to the main page describing all the substrates and the security features

Banknote substrates PWPW PL