Paper for making money. What is paper money made of? Leverage risk management
What type of printing products do you think is the most widespread in the world? No, not and not even newspapers. The most popular type is paper money. Of course, everyone is primarily interested in the financial side of the issue. But the way money is printed is also quite interesting.
Paper for money. Wear resistance
Plain paper, of course, is not suitable for printing money. And now we are not talking about watermarks. Over the course of its life, each banknote is constantly wrinkled, washed, moistened, and subjected to a variety of different influences. Therefore, money paper must be incredibly durable and durable.
In the production of such paper, natural cotton fibers are used, and before printing money begins, this paper undergoes a number of tests. The first test is to determine the paper's abrasion resistance. On special folding machines, money paper is folded many times. For example, the stationery paper we are used to loses its properties and begins to tear after just a few bends. But money paper can withstand thousands of folds.
The next challenge facing money paper is tear resistance. This indicator is checked using a dynamometer. It shows how many meters of its own weight the paper can withstand before it breaks. For an ordinary sheet, this figure is no more than 300 m, but money paper can hold up to several kilometers of its own weight.
Water marks
Do you know why watermarks on banknotes are almost impossible to fake? Because they are not some special type of printing, but are created during the production of the paper for money itself. This process is technologically very complex and in our country only two paper mills are engaged in the production of such paper: in St. Petersburg and Krasnokamsk. Of course, both of these enterprises belong to Goznak.
Printing money. What paints are used
There are special requirements for inks for printing money. In addition to being resistant to abrasion and fading, they must glow under a certain spectrum in detectors that determine the authenticity of banknotes. The composition and manufacturing technology of inks for printing money are strictly classified. It is only known that they are not produced in our country and Goznak purchases them in Switzerland.
Methods of printing money
Money is printed using 4 different printing methods. The usual pattern is applied and is responsible for making indentations on banknotes. Such as the Oryol seal allows you to join the finest lines of different colors without breaks or overlaps. It is impossible to achieve such accuracy by any other method. And finally, the “” seal - with its help serial numbers that are convex to the touch are applied.
Currency paper is paper that is used in the production of paper money.
The production of money paper is a difficult process based on physical and chemical processes. A sheet of such paper consists of cellulose fibers processed in a special way. Mechanical weaving and chemical bonds provide a strong connection between plant fibers.
Money paper production
The liquid paper mixture, which consists of fibrous components and water, is cast on a special mesh of the papermaking machine, while the water flows down, leaving only a layer of fibrous mass on the mesh. After low tide, excess water is removed by pressing, then the paper layer is dried. This is how paper is made, including money paper. To make it, cotton and flax fibers are used, 90% consisting of pure cellulose.
To make money paper durable, it is sized using starch, melamine-formaldehyde resin or other materials, and fillers are also added to it. The degree of fiber refining affects the mechanical strength of the paper. The higher the grind, the higher the strength.
Requirements for money paper
Wear resistance, characterized by resistance to fracture and tearing, is one of the most important requirements. Samples of currency paper, which must withstand several thousand double folds, are tested for wear resistance on a folding device. The dynamometer determines the tensile strength of the paper. Money paper must have a certain degree of whiteness, smoothness, opacity and light fastness. High-quality paper does not change whiteness when exposed to light rays and does not reduce its mechanical strength. The paint on the paper must be well fixed, its layer must be resistant to abrasion.
Security watermarks
Watermarks on paper money protect against counterfeiting and increase their artistic level. Watermarks are created when paper is formed due to the varying thickness of the fiber layer, and creating beautiful watermarks is a difficult task. A sign can be general or local. In the first case, it is a continuously repeating pattern, and in the second, it is a drawing that is located on the bill in one place or another.
Engravers and other specialists work on the watermark design in the watermark workshop. Sometimes thin colored fibers, metallized thread, fibers that can only be seen in a certain light, etc. are added to money paper. This is done to protect against counterfeiting.
04.09.2015 16.10.2015 by Papar@zzi
Neat stacks of coins are undoubtedly beautiful and even very impressive, but when these same coins weigh down your pocket, it’s not very pleasant. But paper banknotes can be rolled into a tube or stacked - it’s convenient. But how these banknotes are made is a state secret, the veil of which we will lift a little.
Paper for money
Paper money is an ancient and completely non-European invention. In Europe, the printing of paper banknotes began only at the end of the 17th century.
The Swedes became pioneers in money printing. In 1644, copper coins came into circulation, which were not very convenient and depreciated very quickly. Then the founder of the Stockholm Bank, which opened in 1657, Johann Palmstruch proposed introducing a new monetary unit - temporary credit paper (Kreditivsedlar). In July 1661, a batch of banknotes was printed.
Alas, Mr. Palmstruch suffered a serious setback: the printed money turned out to be too much, and he paid for his mistake with his head in the most literal sense. From that batch, literally a few banknotes have survived, which today are the rarest specimens and the dream of many collectors.
What kind of paper was money printed on? Once they even used several books for this purpose, including liturgical books. However, it turned out that paper banknotes “live” for a very short time and therefore it is necessary to find the strongest possible version of paper that will extend the life of paper money by at least several months.
Without going into details, paper is made from wood, or more precisely, from the cellulose obtained from it. Cotton and linen fiber are used to make especially durable paper for printing money. In addition, to make the paper as durable as possible, various impregnations and fillers are mixed into it. Paper is processed either only superficially or at the manufacturing stage. Starch, melamine-formaldehyde resin and other similar materials are used for sizing, giving new banknotes that magical, unique crunch.
The process of making money paper is labor-intensive, and the technology has quite a lot in common with the method used by the Arabs in ancient times. The sheets, which will be cut into banknotes at the final stage, are formed on the mesh of a paper-making machine from a liquid mass. The basis is water in which the fibrous components are suspended. As the process progresses, the water drains, and a fibrous layer is formed on the mesh, which is then sent under the press and then dried.
Money paper differs from ordinary paper in that it is not bleached. It is for this reason that banknotes appear dark under ultraviolet rays, while plain paper will glow blue. After the sheets are ready, a real crash test awaits them.
The paper must be tested for wear resistance: first with instruments, then future banknotes are bent, torn and compared with standards of whiteness and dullness. Good money paper should not change its color or reduce its mechanical strength in the sun. The best performance in this sense is shown by sheets made from flax and cotton fibers. The ink layer on the paper should adhere well and be sufficiently resistant to abrasion.
2. Banknote protection
To minimize the possibility of counterfeiting banknotes, which is a serious state crime, various security elements are added to banknotes. The first and only line of defense was watermarks, which are formed when the paper is cast due to the different thickness of the fiber layer.
Over time, it became clear that watermarks alone were not enough and additional security elements began to be introduced. Narrow polymer strips, called security threads, began to be added to paper. They can be different: shiny metallized, transparent or not, fluorescent in ultraviolet and even magnetic. The thread may be hidden in the bulk of the paper or located partly in the mass and partly on the surface of the banknote - a diving thread. Microtext is often printed on security threads.
3. Printing a design on banknotes
To apply a corresponding design to a piece of paper, a number of manipulations are required: several different printing methods and technologies are used. Let's talk a little about what and how they “draw” on banknotes. Banknote design is a delicate matter. Many people are working on this, from various consultants to professional artists. Before a batch of banknotes is printed, several dozen sketches of varying degrees of detail will be drawn. But now we are talking about something slightly different.
Offset printing. It is used to print background grids, various rosettes and the main design on small banknotes. They use paints of three color groups - blue, red and yellow. Both sides of the banknote are printed simultaneously; modern printing presses operate at speeds of up to 8,000 sheets per hour.
Letterpress printing. An engraving is made by hand on metal, which is converted into a metal cliché, which is then used for printing. This method is used to apply designs on large banknotes and small elements on bills of smaller denominations.
Metallography. Intaglio printing method: the ink that fills the recesses in the printing plate is transferred to paper under high pressure. In this case, the paper is pressed into the recesses. The design made by metallography protrudes above the surface of the paper, which is determined by touch and is clearly visible when magnified. Even the finest strokes of the print are highly accurate.
Iris roll. Have you noticed the smooth change in color of the imprint lines along one side of the bill? This is iris peal. Another unique method is the Oryol seal. The main feature of such a print is the exact combination of differently colored elements without breaks or displacement of lines. Oryol printing is used for applying ornaments, protective nets, rosettes, etc.
In addition to the actual printing, embossing, perforation and numbering are also used. All this allows you to track the circulation of paper banknotes, establish their authenticity, as well as monitor wear and tear and replace old banknotes with new ones.
Each of us handles banknotes every day. Currently, cash circulation is becoming less and less due to the possibility of non-cash payment. However, cash will not go out of circulation any time soon, if at all.
In the article we will look at:
- What are banknotes made of?
- What and how are images printed on banknotes?
- Who prints banknotes
- Banknote protection and watermarks
- How money is printed
1.What are banknotes made of?
Banknotes are made from special, wear-resistant paper, and the paper, in turn, is made from wood.
It is important to make the life of the bill as long as possible.
In circulation, the bill passes from hand to hand, crumples, folds, several hundred and thousand times. Sometimes it is washed in a washing machine with powder.
So what is the secret to the strength of a banknote?
When making banknote paper, cotton and linen are used in very large proportions and scales. Paper is tested for tearing, strength, stretching, wear resistance and a bunch of other different tests to determine the quality of the paper.
2.Printing images on banknotes.
The paint for banknotes is purchased in Switzerland.
The composition of the dye is strictly classified. The composition of the paint for banknotes is complex in such a way that at a certain angle under a special detector, the paint should glow.
In addition, the paint should not wear off, be wear-resistant, not fade, and not lose its original properties during circulation.
3.Who prints banknotes
The printing of banknotes is carried out by the strictest state company Goznak. Physically, money is printed in the city of St. Petersburg and in the city of Krasnokamsk. These companies are owned by Goznak.
4.Banknote protection and watermarks
Watermarks are not applied by printing on paper, they are applied during the manufacturing process of banknote paper. Therefore, no one can counterfeit money. It is impossible to produce special paper using classified technologies. The manufacturing process is technologically very complex and consists of a huge number of stages.
5.How money is printed
Money printing takes place in four stages. First, paint is applied, then a special seal is applied, which makes indentations in the bill, then a metallized image is applied and the printing is completed, which leaves bulges on the bill.
Many people are interested in such seemingly unexpected questions how to: paper for printing money, what is it and where is the paper for money buy? Below there will be information directly related to the above issues. We'll consider:
What properties does paper have for printing money?
What is money paper made from?
How does the process of producing specialized paper take place?
Properties of paper for printing money
Surely, all of you have seen, held in your hands and touched (some of you even sniffed) paper money. You paid attention to the many means of protection against counterfeiting, thanks to which the monetary unit acquired a characteristic roughness And color. But that’s not what we’re talking about today. Remember the difference between the paper on which money was printed and plain paper? That's right, paper money is denser and more elastic.
In order to extend the life of money, paper for it is made very durable And wear-resistant. If ordinary paper can withstand bending about a hundred times, then paper for printing money in tests is subjected to thousands of folds. High strength allows it to withstand numerous mechanical impacts, such as friction in pockets, wallets and other storage places.
Composition of paper for money
In order to give strength and durability to money paper, it is made from cotton And flax. Unlike paper for printing documents, which is made from wood. 
The bottom line is that the production of any paper requires cellulose, which is found in tree fibers. But in wood the percentage of cellulose is about 50%, and in cotton and flax it is about 95%. Due to this, it turns out to be of a higher grade and with an increased service life.
To give even more wear resistance paper, it is glued with starch or a certain resin, or special fillers are added. The result is crisp paper for printing money.
Production of paper for money
The process of making paper for printing money, doesn't have significant differences from classical paper production (I described the process itself in more detail). To produce this type of paper, two types of machines are used: flat mesh and round mesh. At the beginning of the processing of flax and cotton fibers, they are ground and mixed with water. Then it is filtered using a mesh. Both types of machine differ precisely in the shape of the filter mesh. This is followed by the process of pressing and drying the paper web.
You can buy paper for printing banknotes at manufacturing plants. In the Russian Federation, these are located in Krasnoarmeysk And St. Petersburg.