The Standard Aurum Specification.
The Standard Aurum® Specification (SAS) is an open standard for creating Aurums in fungible metric denominations. Aurums are flexible, hyperfractional gold bills that operate as a negotiable instrument in voluntary barter. MetalMark aims to create a single Standard that any Aurum can adopt to be accepted as part of the Standard network.
Version 1.0
Introduction
The Standard Aurum Specification (SAS) defines a standard, brand-agnostic system of weights, dimensions, and features for Aurums regardless of art or design, in addition to establishing a common exchange rate. The goal is to create a level playing field of interoperable Aurum, Aurum accessories, and various other vendor programs unified through compatibility.
Definitions
Aurum
An Aurum is a physical, flexible layer of assayable 24-karat gold protected by polymer and secured through a myriad of modern bank note anti-counterfeiting measures. It was invented by Valaurum, Inc., is protected by US & international patents, and is a trademarked term owned by Valaurum, Inc.
Denomination
The denomination is the face value of an Aurum, which varies in its system of measurement. Standard Aurums are denomintated in the metric system.
Dimensions
The dimensions of an Aurum represent the physical width and length (or height).
Standard Aurum
A Standard Aurum is any Aurum that adheres to this Standard Aurum Specification.
API
In this context, an API, or Application Programming Interface, refers to a publicly accessible web application that responds to minimally 1 type of request for on-demand verification and information retrieval about unique bill serials you have issued.
Disclaimers
This Standard Aurum Specification is an independent proposal by MetalMark, LLC and is not endorsed by Valaurum, Inc. It is the Standard we are adopting for our Standard Aurums, and it’s an invitation for collaboration.
Specification
Acceptable Manufacturers
Standard Aurums must be official Aurums manufactured by Valaurum, Inc.
Indicia
Standard Aurums must adhere to all laws and include all necessary disclaimers, including but not limited to the Aurum not being US legal tender, patent notices, requisite copyrights, and the declaration of being a negotiable instrument.
System of Value
Standard Aurums must use 24-karat gold at 99.9% purity as the base system of value. This does not preclude a future specification that governs the use of other precious metals, such as silver or platinum.
System of Measurement
Standard Aurums must be denominated in the metric system; specifically in milligrams. The metric system has been chosen for its simplicity in unit conversions, and to account for the trend in pricing gold in grams instead of ounces due to its increasing price as measured in US dollars.
Currency Symbol
The symbol denotes 1 milligram of 24-karat gold in a Standard Aurum.
Stepped Sizing
Standard Aurums must follow this table of stepped sizing, where specific denominations require a specific physical size of bill.
| Denomination () | Dimensions (LxW) |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 165×76mm |
| 1000 | 155.5×65mm |
| 500 | 142.5×65mm |
| 250 | 130×65mm |
| 100 | 127×65mm |
| 50 | 123.83×65mm |
| 25 | 117.5×65mm |
| 10 | 111×65mm |
Note: 10au/10mg bills are not yet possible.
Security Features
Aurums contain numerous anti-counterfeiting measures, both in the manufacturing process and in the design process. Standard Aurums must make use of all available security features, including specific direction on the following.
Ultraviolet Fluorescent Printing
Standard Aurums must include UV-reactive printing, which only appears under UV light. This is a design consideration and can be branding or additional enhancements to the art.
Microprinting
The art for the Aurum must be at a sufficiently high DPI to include design elements only visible with a magnifying glass. This is a design consideration and can be implemented in any number of ways.
Unique serialization
Every Standard Aurum must be uniquely serialized, meaning each bill must have its own separate and unique identifier printed on the bill. The serials can be numeric or alphanumeric, and must have sufficient entropy to avoid collisions at scale.
If numeric, this must be a minimum of 10 digits. If alphanumeric, this must be a minimum of 8 characters.
These should be pregenerated and stored within a database, though it is an option to receive a list of generated serials after manufacturing, so long as you are similarly storing them in a database.
QR Code Verification
Standard Aurums should include a dynamically printed QR code that will serve as both a machine and human-readable mechanism to verify the denomination. This must be an absolute or fully-qualified URL.
To keep the QR as small as possible, we want to save all possible bits in the URL. This means it’s recommended to keep the path and URL arguments very concise.
Future state
At present, it’s being suggested that anyone implementing this Standard for their own project would also create their own API to adhere to the specification. More than likely, this will not be a requirement, and a single API that contains knowledge of all Standard Aurums created would be ideal. At that point, MetalMark will likely create an authenticated endpoint and grant access on a case-by-case to allow participating vendors to push their data about their Aurums they have issued. This way, every Standard Aurum will be verifiable through a single API.
Checksum
The checksum should be a hash against the serial and a private key you keep secure. This is an extra step to deter and detect tampering with any validation APIs.
There’s no official guidance on the checksum algorithm to use. For getting the QR as small as possible, consider an 8-bit checksum like CRC.
Example
serial = "123456890" // the bill serial secret = "robocop" // your private key checksum = crc8(serial + secret) print "https://example.com/api/verify?s=" + serial + "&c=" + checksum //> https://example.com/api/verify/?s=1234567890&c=8A
API Response
Your API endpoint must respond with a properly MIME typed JSON object that has the following shape.
serialstringdenominationnumbercurrencystringcurrencyCodestringcurrencySymbolstringdescriptionstringvendorstringsecurityarray{}objecttypestringdescriptionstring
metadataobject
Example response
{
serial: "TEST123",
denomination: 50,
currency: "Standard",
currencyCode: "SAU",
currencySymbol: "ꜷ",
description: "MetalMark Standard Aurum - 50au",
vendor: "MetalMark",
security: [
{type: "uv", description: "Repeating butterfly pattern"},
{type: "microprint", description: "Microprinted serial on obverse"}
],
metadata: {
mintage: 1000,
yearMinted: 2024,
edition: "First"
}
}
Browser Response
Optionally, the same endpoint should detect if the requesting client is most likely a human in a web browser. If so, the endpoint should redirect the client to a normal webpage that renders the same information in a human-friendly way.
Layout & Design
The Standard Aurum Specification has no layout or design guidance, with the exception of a universal branding system so all bills function correctly, and so that there is a consistent, familiar through line between all Standard Aurums.
The Standard “Lockup”
We want to maximize design freedom while ensuring every Standard Aurum bill looks like part of a thoughtful system, and to ensure each Standard Aurum will function the same when handled in person or at a point of sale.
To that end, we have designed two containers of information that work as a lockup. One should exist on the bill’s face, and one should exist on the bill’s obverse. The design of each should not be materially changed.
The small lockup
This is optional, but strongly suggested to be the lockup used on the front or face of all Standard Aurums. It contains the minimum amount of information needed for any consumer to understand what the bill is, what it is worth, and what metal it contains.
Shop the look
Bold denomination showing how much of the precious metal is contained in the Aurum.
Standard Aurums are always denominated in metric milligrams.
This tells you it's part of the Standard program, and the type and caliber of the precious metal it measures.
As a sound money tool, these Standard Aurums are negotiable instruments intended for use in voluntary barter.
Bold denomination showing how much of the precious metal is contained in the Aurum.
Standard Aurums are always denominated in metric milligrams.
This tells you it's part of the Standard program, and the type and caliber of the precious metal it measures.
As a sound money tool, these Standard Aurums are negotiable instruments intended for use in voluntary barter.
The big lockup
This is required. This lockup contains 100% of the necessary information for these bills to be manufactured, understood by consumers, scannable by POS and other systems, and to maintain compliance and legal standing. When we’re ready to share the Standard big lockup, we will show it here.