COMET™ (COded METallic)

Type: Demetallized security thread — combined macro/micro demetallization structure providing simultaneous public visual and machine-readable authentication

Overview

COMET™ is a Crane Currency proprietary security thread technology built on the company's foundational expertise in banknote demetallization — a technique Crane pioneered and which, according to the company, can be found in most currency circulating worldwide. COMET represents Crane's most sophisticated expression of demetallization technology, moving beyond simple clear-text or pattern demetallization to create a thread with a structured two-level architecture that simultaneously serves public authentication and machine-readable encoding within a single feature.

Technology & Effects

The defining technical innovation of COMET is the hierarchical interplay of two distinct scales of demetallization within the same thread. The KTH thesis, drawing on Crane's own product documentation, describes it precisely: COMET is based on the interplay between micro and macro demetallized elements where the micro elements contribute to a machine readable encoding scheme. Public validation is simple, based on the macro elements, and can be authenticated in the same way as a watermark, with layers of added fine resolution detail seen under simple magnification. The COMET security thread provides a solid foundation for building even higher levels of security and layered protection.

The macro-level demetallized elements — larger clear or defined areas removed from the metallic layer — are visible to the general public when the note is held to transmitted light, providing the watermark-equivalent Level 1 authentication experience that the public recognises from standard demetallized threads. The micro-level elements — finer resolution demetallized detail — encode a machine-readable scheme that can be read by high-speed currency processing equipment, providing Level 2 automated verification. Crucially, the micro elements are also visible under simple magnification (loupe or magnifying glass), which gives trained cashiers and bank tellers an intermediate-level verification step between the public transmitted-light check and full machine reading.

COMET is a COded METallic security thread based on the interplay between micro and macro demetallized elements where the micro elements contribute to a machine readable encoding scheme.

Form Factors & Application

COMET is embedded in banknote paper as a windowed security thread during the paper manufacturing process, surfacing at the paper's topside at regular intervals in the characteristic windowed pattern. It is compatible with Crane's Endurance™ cotton paper platform. The demetallization processing — selectively removing aluminium or other metallic coatings from the polyester thread substrate in defined macro and micro patterns — is performed by Crane using proprietary equipment and processes that cannot be replicated with commercially available demetallization machinery.

Security Levels

COMET operates across three authentication levels. At Level 1, the macro demetallized elements are visible to the public in transmitted light — the same verification gesture used for watermarks, requiring no tools and no specialist knowledge. At an intermediate level, the fine-resolution micro detail is verifiable with a simple magnifying glass, providing retailers and tellers with a readily accessible enhanced check. At Level 2, the micro-encoded pattern is machine-readable by high-speed sorters and banknote processing equipment, supporting automated cash cycle authentication.

Corporate Context & Status

COMET was part of Crane Currency's thread portfolio during the late 1990s and 2000s, documented in Crane's own technical literature as of 2010. It represents the company's most sophisticated demetallization-only thread design before Crane's strategic pivot to micro-optic technology, which began with the acquisition of Nanoventions in 2008 and the development of the Motion™ thread. COMET does not appear on Crane Currency's current product website, which now focuses on the Motion™, RAPID®, RAPID HD®, RAPID Vision®, and cBREEZE™ micro-optic thread family alongside the Detect machine-readability platform. COMET should be regarded as a superseded technology in Crane's active portfolio, though banknotes featuring it may remain in circulation.

Name

COMET™ (COded METallic)

Category

Security Feature

Effect Types

Demetallised Machine readable other

Company

Crane Currency
Company Website

Linked Features

1 security feature