Pharmaceutical dosage forms having overt and covert markings for identification and authentification

Oral solid dosage forms such as tablets having overt, printed or etched markings as well as optional covert markings are disclosed. The markings can be rapidly identified to authenticate a dosage form and/or drug contained therein. The inventive dosage forms include a core portion having sufficiently low friability to receive a printed or etched marking on a surface thereof, and a readable or detectable printed or etched marking on the surface of the core which provides information allowing the identification/authentication of the oral dosage form. In preferred aspects of this embodiment, a bar code, more preferably, a 2D data matrix bar code is printed or etched on a debossed region on the surface of the solid dose form. Methods of preparing the marked dosage forms and methods of identifying and/or authenticating solid dosage forms are also disclosed.