Anti-counterfeiting: Mixing the physical and the digital world

Abstract

Counterfeiting is as old as the human desire to create objects of value. For example, historians have identified counterfeit coins just as old as the corresponding originals. Archeological findings have identified examples of counterfeit coins from 500 BC netting a 600+% instant profit to the counterfeiter [2]. Test cuts were likely to be the first counterfeit detection procedure – with an objective to test the purity of the inner structure of the coin. The appearance of counterfeit coins with already engraved fake test cuts initiated the cat-and-mouse game between counterfeiters and original manufacturers that has lasted to date [2].