Izaak Enschedé started a small printing office in the city of Haarlem. Working together with his son Johannes – after whom the company was named – he laid the foundations of an enterprise that is now over three centuries old, still going strong and has had eight successive generations of Enschedé family members at the helm.

The small printing office became the city of Haarlem’s official printer, producing what is now one of the oldest newspapers in the world.

Joh. Enschedé printed its first banknote for use in the Dutch East and West Indies. This was followed in 1814 by the production of the first Dutch banknotes, printed for the newly formed Dutch national bank. It was colloquially named ‘roodborstje’ meaning ‘robin’ for its red colour and musical decorations. Numerous pleasant looking banknotes of the highest quality followed.

The first stamps depicting King William III were produced. In the decades following, stamps were produced for almost all countries in the world, becoming an important part of the Joh. Enschedé portfolio, making the company world market leader. In the decades from 1900 till 2000 the company has evolved to become a leader in the field of high quality security printing producing new products like cheques, visa’s, tax stamps, certificates etcetera.

Joh. Enschedé became one of the first printers of euro banknotes. Meeting the high quality and security requirements and being one of the most efficient printing companies, Joh. Enschedé has been able to win many tenders in this extremely competitive market.

Joh. Enschedé became Royal Joh. Enschedé. Three centuries of being a reliable supplier, producer, adviser, and innovator has made Her Majesty Queen Beatrix decide to bestow the title ‘Royal Warrant Holder’ upon us, on the occasion of the celebration of the third centenary in 2003.

The Enschedé family sold the majority of its shares in Royal Joh. Enschedé to two private equity parties, thus enabling the company to enter a new promising future in the international high security printing world.

Royal Joh. Enschedé announces its new focus and strategy plans as a High Security Printer on the international market for Stamps, Visas and Tax Labels, together with fast growing markets such as ‘brand protection’ and ‘anti-counterfeit’.

Royal Joh. Enschedé has implemented its new organisation structure as well as the execution of its new business strategy after last year’s transition.

Royal Joh. Enschedé acquires a majority stake in AntTail. AntTail provides solutions for monitoring supply chains with sensors and cloud services, providing a complete audit trail from manufacturer to receiver and which also prevents counterfeiting.

Royal Joh. Enschedé launches Notable. These interactive banknotes are equipped with Augmented Reality that makes the banknote come alive. Companies and organizers can use the notes as a means of payment and offer their visitors a memento of the event or visit.

Royal Joh. Enschedé launches several innovations that combine unique printed products with digital solutions and applications: Banknotes and Postage Stamps with augmented reality, stamps with unique individual data matrix codes, crypto stamps & NFT’s and stamps containing RFID- and NFC-chips for track & trace and personal messaging.

Royal Joh. Enschedé acquires the security printing activities of JEA (Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam). With this acquisition, Royal Joh. Enschedé expands its activities in the fields of document paper, diplomas, ballot paper and food labels strengthening its position in the secure printing market.

Royal Joh. Enschedé receives official Food Safety Management Certificate. This certification further expands the capabilities of our organization and the possibilities for customers to have their precious products manufactured at Royal Joh. Enschedé.

Royal Joh. Enschedé is acquired by Authentix, Inc., a global leader in Authentication and Security Printing. This acquisition enables the company to further expand its market share in core business lines including secure postage stamp printing, passports, voting ballots, tax stamps, and its fast-growing digital offerings such as commemorative notes and digital crypto postage stamp platforms including blockchain.