The Westarctican Ice Mark
A paper banknote - the only legal tender currency in Westarctica.
After many years of trial and error, the Central Bank of Westarctica has finally produced its first-ever paper banknotes.
Under the direction of the Commissioner of the Treasury, the Baron of Bastanchury, 600 Westarctican Ice Marks are being minted and made available to the general public.
Currently, the notes are available in denominations of ❄10 marks and ❄20 marks.
These banknotes feature high quality printing and numerous security features including UV ink, unique serial numbers, microprint, and a gold foil medallion which renders the notes almost impervious to counterfeiting.
10 Ice Mark Notes
SOLD OUT!
20 Ice Mark Notes
SOLD OUT!
The ice mark was originally planned to be a paper version of the Westarctican Dollar, which had previously only been produced in the form of metal coinage. Considering the great demand among collectors for paper currency, as well as the prestige brought from having high-quality banknotes, Grand Duke Travis created the office of Commissioner of the Treasury to manage the design and production process for the new notes.
The name "ice mark" was decided upon through a collaborative process during a meeting of the Royal Council in August 2018. Most ministers agreed that the "dollar" was a dated term linked exclusively with American money, and a different name would help set apart Westarctica's banknotes as unique. Their Lordships, the Count of Goldstream and the Baron of Bastanchury were the primary creators of the name and it was swiftly approved by the Grand Duke.
The notes are printed on 75% cotton rag, 25% linen paper, the same fiber content as that of American banknotes. It contains red and blue fibers, has a weight of 85 GSM (grams per square meter) making it only slightly more dense/ heavy that typical office copy paper, and has no optical brighteners.
Both sides of the notes feature numerous security features:
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Under UV light, the number in the upper left of the note will appear prominent and white compared to the rest of the obverse face of the note.
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The reverse side of the notes feature a QR code box which links to an article about the Ice Mark notes on Encyclopedia Westarctica.
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Multiple overlapping color gradients are located across the obverse and reverse of the note, and interact with each other using various undisclosed layered transparency effects.
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Each note receives three ink treatments.
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The note's most impressive feature is the metallic foil snowflake that appears on the face. These are created by first spraying an adhesive through a template on each note, then placing a sheet of foil on top of the remaining adhesive, and removing the excess foil with a brush. After this, each gold snowflake must be treated with a sealant to allow it to retain its shine into the indefinite future.