When banknotes were first issued in Europe in 17th century,

在17世紀歐洲首次發行紙幣時，

they were crude and easily duplicated.

它們很粗糙而且很容易複製。

Some historians believe the counterfeits in circulation outnumbered real banknotes.

有些歷史學家認為，流通中的假鈔數量超過了真鈔。

To make paper money harder to forge, there's been a stream of innovations -

為了使紙幣更難偽造，各種創新措施不斷問世。

from elaborate engraving, watermarks to security thread.

從精美的雕刻，浮水印到安全線。

But these technologies couldn’t prevent a $900,000 swindle back in 1966 in Australia -

但是，這些技術仍然無法阻止1966年在澳大利亞發生的 90 萬美元的騙局-

which is how we got plastic money.

這是我們現在有塑膠紙鈔的時空背景。

In come the dollars, in come the cents

元來了，分來了

to replace the pounds, and the shilling and pence.

代替磅，先令和便士。

In 1966, Australia switched from pounds to decimal currency.

1966年，澳大利亞的貨幣單位從鎊改為十進位。

The country’s reserve bank issued a new range of banknotes with modern safety features -

該國央行發行了一系列具有現代安全功能的新紙幣-

including watermarks, woven metal thread

包括浮水印、金屬編織線

and raised areas thanks to being printed on Intaglio presses.

和凸起的區域，皆要歸功於Intaglio印刷機。

Soon though, fake ten-dollar notes that looked authentic began to appear.

但是不久後，看起來很真實的假十元鈔票開始出現。

In the following years, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Australian fake notes -

在接下來的幾年中，價值數十萬澳元的澳大利亞假鈔-

all with watermark and metal threads - passed into circulation,

全部帶有浮水印和金屬線－流通於市面，

undermining confidence in Australia’s new money.

這破壞了對澳大利亞新貨幣的信心。

It wasn’t the work of a sophisticated criminal mastermind,

這不是精明的犯罪者所策劃，

but instead a shopkeeper, an artist, a photographer and a tailor.

而是店主，藝術家，攝影師和裁縫師的傑作。

Financed by career criminal Robert Kidd

由職業罪犯羅伯特·基德（Robert Kidd）資助

the gang bought a colour printing press, a camera lens and some ordinary paper.

該犯罪同伙購買了一台彩色印刷機，一台相機鏡頭和一些普通紙。

The photographer took pictures of a genuine note and a watermark drawn by the artist.

攝影師拍攝了真鈔和畫家畫的浮水印。

The tailor took a week’s printing training

裁縫接受了一周的印刷培訓，

and ran it with the shopkeeper in a garage.

然後和店主在車庫裡一起印製。

The counterfeiters were soon caught,

偽造者很快被逮補，

but the authorities were alarmed by how easy they were able to copy the money.

但是主管當局對他們能夠輕鬆複製這筆錢感到震驚。

In 1968, the then governor of the Australian central bank H.C. Coombs,

1968年，時任澳大利亞中央銀行行長－庫姆斯，

challenged a team of experts to create a more secure banknote.

召集了一個專家團隊來創建更安全的鈔票。

A representative from camera company Kodak made the point that

相機公司柯達公司的代表指出：

if the new banknotes could be photographed

若是新紙幣可以被拍攝保存，

then they could also be printed and forged.

那麼它們也可以被印刷和偽造。

It inspired David Solomon, a polymer chemist.

它啟發了高分子化學家大衛·所羅門 (David Solomon)。

He came up with a novel idea of a plastic note

他提出了創新的想法－塑膠紙幣。

after being given a business card printed on plastic by a Japanese professor.

這是在收到一張日本教授的塑料名片後的發想。

Within a few years, Solomon’s team developed a unique polymer substrate,

在短短幾年內，所羅門 (Solomon) 的團隊開發了一種獨特的聚合物基材，

which contains several film layers.

這個材料包含幾個薄膜層。

The molten polymer is forced out of a circular die in the form of a bubble.

將熔化的聚合物以氣泡的形式從圓形模具中擠出。

The bubble is drawn up a tall vertical tower.

氣泡形成一個高大的垂直塔。

The size of this bubble and hence the film thickness

氣泡的大小，及膜層厚度

is controlled by the air pressure within the bubble.

是由氣泡內的氣壓所控制。

Using polymer meant other security features could also be included.

使用聚合物意味著還可以包括其他安全功能。

See-through panels contain Optically Variable Devices -

透明薄片包含可變光學裝置-

holographic-style images that are hard to copy, or take a photo of.

全息圖像將難以被複製或被翻拍。

Printed on plastic, it incorporates for the first time anywhere this Optically Variable Device

用塑料印刷的紙幣，首次採用這種光學可變裝置，

which takes on a different appearance depending on the angle at which you view it.

在任何地方，視您看到的角度而定，所見外觀會有所不同。

In 1988, the new technologies were first used in A$10 commemorative notes.

1988 年，新技術首次在 10 澳元的紀念鈔中使用。

The technology has now been exported to 25 other countries.

該技術現已出口到其他 25 個國家。

As well as their security features, polymer banknotes are also cleaner

聚合物鈔票不僅具有安全性，而且更乾淨。

and they last two and a half times longer than paper notes, which offsets the increase in cost.

而且它們的使用壽命是紙質鈔票的兩倍半，這抵消了成本的增加。

At the end of its lifecycle, the plastic note can be recycled to make other products.

在其使用週期的盡頭，可以將塑料鈔票回收再用於製造其他產品。

Today plastic money is used in about 30 countries

如今，塑料貨幣已在大約 30 個國家/地區使用，

and accounts for 3 percent of the world’s money.

佔世界貨幣的 3％。

In Australia, plastic notes have helped

在澳大利亞，塑料紙鈔的確

keep counterfeiting low for decades,

在這幾十年來有效維持低仿造，

especially when compared with other major currencies

特別是與其他主要貨幣相比，

like Euro.

像歐元。

The rate has increased in recent years though

近年來，仿造比率已有所增加，

as the criminals have caught up.

因為罪犯也已經趕上了。

So the best solution might just be to go cashless entirely.

因此，最好的解決方案可能就是完全無現金。

That would also help avoid the embarrassing spelling mistake

這也將有助於避免令人尷尬的拼寫錯誤發生，

Australia printed on 46 million of its bills this year.

如在澳大利亞今年所印製的 4600 萬張鈔票。