How to make paper money

Last time , an article on the history of paper money was published at Geektimes . The Chinese were the first to use cellulose fibers to produce a lightweight analogue of metallic money. Paper is used for the same purpose now. Of course, the complexity of the technological process for the production of paper money has increased significantly, modern money paper is not at all what was used in China or any other country 100-200 years ago.

Typically, flax and cotton are used to produce money paper. The cellulose content in the final product is about 95-97%. The production process begins with the loading of cotton (we are talking about several tons of cotton fibers) into the boiler. Here, the starting material is kept under very high pressure. After that, the finished mass of fibers is poured into the tank, where clarification and cleaning are carried out. After that, the mass is pressed, placed in softeners. The next step is to add a special ink that changes the shade of the still wet paper. At this stage, there is the creation of recognizing watermarks (more about them is discussed below).

Sheets with protective fibers and watermarks are sent for drying, after which the paper is rolled up. The weight of each roll can be several tons.



In addition to paper, paper dye also requires special dyes, chemical compounds, and sophisticated equipment. Domestic Goznak buys paints for banknotes from the Swiss company SICPA (makes special protective printing inks, inks for sealing products, and develops systems for encoding excisable goods). According to representatives of Goznak, due to the growth of the Swiss franc, the cost of producing domestic banknotes is growing quite rapidly.

But Swiss paint has always been considered the highest quality. The cost of buying paint in the manufacture of notes in Europe and the world on average is about 60% of the total cost of buying components and the production of banknotes.

Interestingly, there are several ways to produce paper money, not all countries print money using the same method.

As for paper, one of the main requirements for this material is wear resistance. Money must be durable so that it does not become worthless too quickly. The main indicator of the durability of money is resistance to break and tear. Paper bills are constantly folded and unfolded, they are pulled by corners and by other parts. Therefore, they should not be torn. Tensile strength is determined on a dynamometer. This characteristic is expressed by the estimated length in meters of a strip of paper, with a gap from its own weight. For monetary paper, this figure is thousands of meters (more than for ordinary paper).

In order to ensure the high quality and durability of the printed pattern, the monetary paper must possess the necessary degree of whiteness, opacity, smoothness and light resistance. This paper should not change its color under the influence of external factors (sunlight, for example).

In Russia, paper for money is supplied by only two enterprises. These are the St. Petersburg paper mill of Goznak and the Krasnokamsk paper mill of Goznak.

Paper protection

Paper money usually has several degrees of protection. Among others, watermarks are used, which can also serve as a kind of decoration. Create watermarks even when the paper is ebb. The pattern is obtained by changing the thickness of the fiber layer along the plane of the bill. It is not easy to create a beautiful and clear watermark, for this you need accurate modern equipment. The watermark in some cases is combined with the pattern of the bill itself.

In the production of money paper, there is usually a watermark workshop where a large number of highly qualified specialists work. In particular, these are engravers who transfer artists' drawings to stamps and a metal mesh of the so-called dendirol shaft. Sometimes drawings are transferred to the cylinder grid of the round-mesh machine. Dendirol is an equalizer that is installed on the machine’s grid and, when rotated, forms an imprint of its watermark on a paper web. This method is commonly used to create paper with a common watermark. If you need an artistic local sign, you can get it with a manual tide or with a cylindrical boom machine. In this case, drawings of the sign are stamped on the cylinder grid, and when the paper web is formed, all conditions are created, which allow you to get a multi-tone art sign. Banknotes of many countries have special protective (often - colored or metal) fibers.

The watermark should be clearly visible on all bills, and be absolutely identical for all bills of the same circulation. Forging a watermark is not easy, especially for portraits.



Throughout the time of circulation of paper money must be ensured their identity. In practice, this means that if a banknote, a banknote sample is valid for several decades, then the money that was made in the last years of the banknote’s operation should be identical with the money that was issued at the very beginning of the period. True, some changes may be made during this period - for example, new remedies will be added. The decision to modify the appearance of banknotes is made by special bodies, all changes are recorded. In Russia, such control is exercised by the Bank of Russia.

Banknote Development

The creation of banknotes is a very complex and rather lengthy process in which specialists from various fields are involved. These are financiers, artists and Goznak specialists (in the case of Russia), who are actively involved in the process of creating new money. After the customer (state) has outlined all the necessary criteria for making the bill, artists and engravers begin their work.

The first sketch is created - it is developed taking into account all the criteria of technological capabilities of production, with the help of which future money will be printed. One of the main requirements for paper notes is to demonstrate the ownership of the developed banknote to the state of the manufacturer. This is done by introducing elements of unique state symbols. They can be state symbols, text, portraits of famous people in this state. Typically, large denominations of banknotes have a much more complex pattern and number of degrees of protection than small ones.

After the sketch is ready, specialists create a print project with special printing forms that allow you to print bills in the future. It is attended by experts of the highest class, including photographers, engravers, painters, etchers, stamp engravers, designers. In the case of Russia, only Goznak prepares these personnel. The modern process of money production necessarily includes computer technology. As soon as the first printed draft of a new banknote is ready, it is sent to a special commission for study and approval. If the received option is approved, then the production of special forms for replicating money begins.

Print money

The paper printing process uses four main printing methods. This is offset, metallographic, printing and Oryol printing. The most popular and used are metallographic and Oryol printing methods. Interestingly, the Swiss company KBA-NotaSys SA manufactures about 90% of all printing and press machines for making banknotes in the world market. These machines, in particular, are used at Goznak.

Oryol seal

Despite the fact that this printing method was developed in 1891, it is still used today. The name of the printing process comes from the name of the Goznak specialist Ivan Orlov, who developed this method. Then, to print notes in a printing way, it was necessary to prepare a separate printing form for each of the colors in the drawing of the note. Each form was imprinted on a piece of special paper. The coincidence of the lines and boundaries of the paint when using this method was not ideal, since even using a computer and industrial systems does not give an ideal result, not to mention the technologies of the late 19th century.

Ivan Orlov managed to introduce a special elastic roller with a soft structure and intermediate forms. In this case, each form has its own pattern for each of the colors on the original. When printing, such a template transfers its own fragment to the desired place of the prefabricated shaft, and already from the shaft, the full palette of colors is transferred to the prefabricated general form, where the entire original image is displayed in full.

The advantage of the method is that it allows you to apply the drawing to notes with almost jewelry accuracy, with the coincidence of all the borders of the drawings and lines. In addition, the method allows you to create the necessary fragment of the drawing, which matches the original with almost 100% accuracy, in just one run of the sheet through the printing unit. To repeat such accuracy for a counterfeiter is difficult, although, of course, there are experts of the highest class.

Offset printing

Using offset printing, a so-called background grid and a number of additional elements are usually created. In small banknotes with the help of offset printing, the main pattern is sometimes applied. Since the transfer of ink from the printing form to paper is done through an intermediate offset cylinder, the image itself on the printing form is made direct, not mirror.

Interestingly, with this printing method, ordinary and white space form elements are in the same plane. But the surfaces of the elements have different physicochemical properties. So, the printing elements are hydrophobic, they hold the ink well, repelling moisture. But the white elements are hydrophilic, they absorb water, but repel the paint.

Inks for banknotes are usually divided into three color groups. This is a blue group, red and yellow. For each group a photographic method produces a special form. The paint from the plates is transferred first to the rubber coating of the cylinder, and already the cylinder prints the drawing on paper.

Here's how the US dollars print:

Metallographic printing

This is another common method of printing notes. It has been known for a long time, and for banknotes it was used for the first time in 1887. For printing, in this case, specially made forms of steel or nickel are used.

These forms are almost perfectly polished plates, on which the desired pattern is applied using a special press. The original form is made manually by engraving. In Russian, there is a special term for the original form. This is an “original stamp”. When printing notes in this way, the details of engraving plants create complex patterns for notes. These patterns consist of a large number of lines. After the etching process, an element of the overall image appears, which is placed on the bill.

Such elements in combination with hand engraving and printed font form a single image of the banknote. This image after manufacturing is replicated for the printing process. True, this requires high-precision equipment, as a rule, this is a high-frequency machine and automated galvanoline.

According to experts, the main advantage of the metallographic printing method is that it can be used to reproduce a wide range of bright colors for printing. If you use different depth and width of the drawing, you can achieve a wide variety of colorful effects, often voluminous.

When printing on printing plates using prepared rubber templates, paint is applied. It comes in engraving and white space elements. After that, the paint is erased from these elements, and the form is ready for drawing on paper. The drawing is applied while applying the form to the paper under high pressure. Metallographic printing is divided into two types. This is intaglio printing, when images are transferred from a printing plate, on which the printing elements are significantly recessed with respect to blanks. And high printing, when the printing elements on the forms are located above the blanks. Letterpress is used for drawing on large banknotes, serial numbers and a number of important elements of small and large denominations.

After the bills are printed, uncut sheets are sent to a special workshop, where they are cut into individual bills. After that, the money is calculated using the machine and packaged, they are sent to "free swimming" in the country and abroad.