What raw materials are used in the manufacture of money paper. money making factory

To begin with, a traditional digression into history. The first attempts to print money were made in China. It was a long time ago, around the 700s. Prior to this, money, as we know, had the form of metal coins. The very first paper money was called "fei-qian", but it was not really money, but certificates that were provided by farmsteads. We came to paper banknotes, of course, not by chance. The thing is that with the increase in trade turnover, people realized that transporting tons of coins is not the most convenient form of payment. Yes, and metal is more expensive than paper, whatever one may say. In appearance, the first banknotes looked more like checks. The then paper money contained the names and seals of the persons who issued the same money.

The first real paper money appeared in France in 1718. But in our country it happened a little later, however, like any other blessings of civilization. At present, the number of banknotes is simply huge, and, perhaps, we will soon witness the abolition of paper money in general. ..

Currently, money is printed on silk, plastic and paper. The main and most important means of their protection are watermarks. Each bill has its denomination, which depends on the economic situation of the country. Of course, just a few centuries ago, the protection of banknotes caused huge controversy. We know from history that Napoleon Bonaparte, known to all of us, made a huge number of fakes that were thrown into Russia during the then war.

As for the material itself, it is worth noting that not every paper is suitable for printing money. Only paper of the highest quality is suitable for their manufacture, because the wear resistance of future banknotes depends on it. In our country, the Leningrad and Krasnokamsk factories are engaged in printing money. Naturally, all this takes place in the strictest secrecy and on unique equipment. The main indicators of the quality of money are resistance to fracture and tearing. To determine these properties, bills go through a huge number of folds, folding and unbending.

The most important protection for money is watermarks. A watermark is an image that appears lighter when viewed through the light. A watermark is obtained by pressing a metal mesh roller into the paper. The aerobatics of watermarks is the printing of portraits. It is extremely difficult to counterfeit such protection. Additional protection for banknotes are thin threads and metallized fibers, which can only be seen under the light of a certain spectrum. Also, one of the most difficult protective ways to protect banknotes is perforation, which indicates its face value. Another “chip” for protecting banknotes in Europe is the so-called “checksum” method. Its essence is that if you add up the digits of the banknote number, and add the serial number of the alphabet, you should get the number 8. I don’t know who came up with this, but it seems that this guy is not very stupid.

Money paper is the 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 interlacing and chemical bonds provide a strong connection of plant fibers to each other.

Production of money paper

The liquid paper mixture, which consists of fibrous components and water, is cast on a special paper machine mesh, while the water flows down, leaving only a layer of fibrous mass on the mesh. After the ebb, excess water is removed by pressing, then the paper layer is dried. This is how paper is obtained, including money paper. For its manufacture, cotton and flax fibers are used, which are 90% pure cellulose.

To make money paper durable, it is glued with 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 fracture and tear resistance, is one of the most important requirements. Samples of money paper, which must withstand several thousand double folds, are tested for wear resistance on a folding device. The dynamometer determines the degree of tensile strength of the paper. Money paper must have a certain degree of whiteness, smoothness, opacity and lightfastness. High-quality paper under the influence of light rays does not change whiteness 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 different thicknesses of the fibrous layer, and creating beautiful watermarks is a difficult task. The sign is general and local. In the first case, it is a continuously repeating pattern, and in the second, it is a pattern that is located on the bill in one place or another.

Engravers and other specialists work on the watermark drawing in the watermark workshop. Sometimes thin colored fibers, metallized thread, fibers that can only be seen under certain light, etc. are added to money paper. This is done to protect against forgery.

Nikolai Dubina [email protected]

What is money printed on?

One of the most closely guarded state secrets is the composition of the paper on which money is printed. Each country has its own recipe.

The paper for the Russian currency has its own secret composition, which is treasured like the apple of an eye. Only one counterfeiter, the legendary Viktor Baranov, managed to repeat its recipe on his own. The Stavropol driver with a secondary education turned out to be a self-taught genius. His story deserves a separate article.

However, almost four decades have passed since then, and during this time, the composition of the paper, of course, has changed thanks to the constant work of Goznak specialists. The production of paper with exclusive protective fibers having a variable transverse profile, as well as a color-changing color, has been mastered, a new technology for obtaining filigree watermarks, a technology for the production of paper with a “diving” security thread, is being introduced. New opportunities for protection against forgery and identification of authenticity were obtained as a result of the development of various types of chemical protection.

Typically, the paper consists of 100% cotton fiber with various threads introduced into its composition, has a watermark of three types (local halftone, general and filigree) and security fibers.

The most interesting thing here is the combination of local and general watermarks - it is quite rare due to technological difficulties.

Experts recommend first of all to pay attention to the window (or "diving") security thread, which differs markedly from the previous security thread. Now, five fragments of a metallized thread are visible on the reverse side of banknotes of all denominations. In this case, if you look at the clearance, the thread will be a continuous dark stripe. It is difficult to fake such a thread: it cannot be done either by overprinting or by laying between layers of paper (this is how counterfeiters tried to imitate the old-style thread). In addition, on genuine banknotes, the thread “emerges” to the surface in strictly defined places. Where it enters the paper, a comb is visible through the light, resembling a flat watermark. This is a fairly clear sign of authenticity (Fig. 7).

The metallized thread is a polymer strip, which is metallized using a special technology. The technology of introducing a metallized thread into the material is possessed by literally single paper manufacturers. Thus, the complexity of the technology itself becomes a protective factor.

Another important visual security feature of valid banknotes is the fibers introduced into the paper. Thus, domestically developed Zona fibers are included in the paper for Russian banknotes.

In addition to the "Zone" fibers, there are other fibers in banknote paper that glow when exposed to UV. They have special properties that are important for Goznak specialists in determining the authenticity of banknotes.

And although the composition of the paper has changed somewhat (now cellulose is not added to the composition), the banknotes still crunch “deliciously”. This is achieved by introducing various fillers that improve the quality of the paper.

Now Goznak is developing new types of paper, including those with improved physical and mechanical properties, reduced ability to soil and enhanced bactericidal properties. This direction is generally actively developing in the world market.

It should be noted that Goznak's paper mills have accumulated unique experience in paper production over the years:

• preparation for the production (processing) of cotton fiber and the production of paper based on it or with its content;
• production of paper on cylinder paper machines;
• technology for preparing molded products (including for obtaining a filigree watermark) for the production of paper with various types of watermarks;
• production of paper with various types of watermarks, other security elements and their combinations on flat-screen and cylinder machines;
• production of colored papers;
• production of sheet paper.

Dollar paper

The paper used to print US dollars is manufactured by Crane & Company. It has supplied printing paper for all US currency since 1879.

As a raw material for making paper, scraps of cotton and linen fabrics are used (we will most likely never know the exact recipe, but it is known that the approximate ratio of these types of raw materials is 75 to 25%, respectively).

Colored fibers for incorporation into paper pulp come in skeins, with fibers of each color purchased from different companies. They are cut according to special specifications.

Paper raw materials are manually sorted, foreign elements are removed from it, and then sent for cutting. Then it enters the rotary boiler, where, when treated with superheated steam, it is converted into paper pulp. After cooling and pressing, this mass enters the washing machine, where it is repeatedly passed through special shafts equipped with steel knives and washed abundantly with artesian water. At the same time, all foreign inclusions are removed from it and the length of the fibers is reduced.

Anti-counterfeit paper types

Next, the raw material is placed on a porous surface that allows water to pass through, and left in this form for several days (Fig. 8). After that, the mass enters the grinding machine, where colored fibers and a dye are added to it, which gives the paper a creamy tint. The pulp is placed in a cleaning machine and then passed through a filter that removes unground fibers.

The resulting mass contains up to 99% water, to remove which it is repeatedly rolled over a rotating wire mesh. In this case, the fibers are intertwined and a paper fiber is formed, which is subjected to additional processing to remove residual water and compact the fibers (special suction, vacuum roller, etc.).

At the same stage, the watermark and some other security elements are created (Fig. 9).

To give the paper the required density, it is impregnated with animal glue and glycerin, passed through rigid rollers and dried. The finished paper, cut into large sheets in packs of 10,000 sheets, goes to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington. The resulting paper can withstand repeated bending (up to 4 thousand times), is resistant to tearing and punching, and has a characteristic crunch.

The structure of the paper is mesh (linen), the fibers are parallel to the sides of the bill. The paper has a pale yellow, or rather gray-cream color, without gloss. The color of the paper is due to the fact that it does not contain optical brightener. Because of this, in filtered ultraviolet light (wavelength 366 nm), it looks dark.

The paper feels thick and elastic to the touch. If you try to tear it, then this will not happen immediately: at first it will stretch and, if you let it go, will return to its original position. Despite the elasticity, it also crunches, which makes it possible to distinguish real dollars from fake ones.

A small amount of red and blue silk fibers are chaotically embedded in the paper, they are visible only when viewed through a magnifying glass. Under filtered UV light, paper and fibers do not luminesce.

plastic banknotes

Why not? Plastic banknotes are now in circulation in almost three dozen countries, although they are one and a half times more expensive to manufacture than paper money, but they are superior in terms of resistance to damage, and they last longer.

As a result, the issue of plastic banknotes is economically more profitable. The leading powers still use paper with its characteristic softness, crunch, smell and other familiar organoleptics, which is explained by centuries of tradition.

However, take Australian or Hong Kong banknotes for 10 local dollars. At first glance, these are ordinary banknotes. But try tearing or wrinkling them, even accidentally washing them in your pants pocket - they will soon return to their previous state, since they are made of special plastic developed by specialists from the Australian Central Bank in Canberra and scientists from the National Science Society in Sydney.

Now other countries have joined the Australian program for the exchange of old paper banknotes for new, plastic ones: New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong. Soon this list will be replenished with Nepal.

Among the indisputable advantages of plastic banknotes are durability, resistance to water, oils, sweat, dust and other pollutants, as well as a high degree of protection against cunning counterfeiters. The service life of such money is 4-5 times longer than that of their paper "brothers". And after the plastic bill has become unusable, it can be recycled and made new banknotes or any household items.

The first truly polymer banknotes were printed in 1983 in Costa Rica, the poorest Haiti and the richest "offshore" Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. The banknotes were made by the American Banknote Company on Tyvek polymer material from the US chemical giant DuPont.

Then plastic money appeared in Australia: in 1988, on the 200th anniversary of the founding of the first English settlement on the new continent, the newest polymer banknotes were issued in denominations of 10 Australian dollars. The banknote has a transparent window with a holographic portrait of Captain Cook.

Australian plastic money has passed tough tests: without changing, it has withstood boiling, 9 months in the ground and several hours in a running washing machine. They cost $20 million to develop.

The new banknotes were made from a non-fibrous and non-porous polymer - biaxially oriented (biaxially) polypropylene (BOPP) of the Guardian brand, for which a new technology for obtaining a plastic base was developed.

The initial stage of this technology was the production of a material with the orientation of long polymer molecules predominantly in two dimensions. To do this, bubbles were blown out of a polypropylene tube, from which a multilayer substrate was subsequently formed.

Later, the local company Securency developed several new security features specifically for the polymer base.

The use of a new medium and new additional security measures has led, in particular, to the fact that counterfeit money has practically disappeared in Australia and New Zealand: it is too difficult to make "fake" plastic.

Inspired by the success on its mainland, the Central Bank of Australia sent a batch of plastic banknotes to neighboring Western Samoa in 1990, but the color faded on this money and “chewed” them in bill-calculating machines.

In Costa Rica and Haiti, and later in Zambia, plastic banknotes of 2003 did not last even a year: under the influence of moisture and a hot climate, they became pieces of plastic with unclear images, which caused general discontent.

The banknotes were printed by the Canadian Canadian Bank Note Company - the company later admitted that it used poor inks in production, and was forced to issue an improved currency at its own expense.

By the way, at the end of 2001, the Canadian government introduced a 100-dollar bill made of plastic (Fig. 10), or, more precisely, from polypropylene. It became the country's first money from such material. The final replacement of paper with plastic should be completed before the end of 2013.

Rice. 10. One hundred dollar banknote of Canada. The image clearly shows a transparent window, a hologram to the right of the portrait, and a small copy of the portrait of former Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden, made on a metal insert

In Israel, new plastic banknotes of 20 shekels entered circulation in February 2008. At the time of the experiment, the appearance of the banknotes was unchanged - green, with a portrait of Moshe Sharet. Now both paper and plastic money circulate in the Promised Land on an equal footing.

Currently, the central banks of many countries are carefully studying all the pros and cons of using plastic banknotes. In the meantime, the French company Arjo Wiggins, one of the leading manufacturers of paper for banknotes, has developed a composite carrier Diamone Composite from natural cellulose fibers and synthetic threads. This paper is used to print their banknotes for 40 central banks around the world. According to the French, in the early 2000s, the amount of money printed on this paper increased by almost 5 billion pieces a year.

Not only money!

Yes, yes - the paper that we talked about so much can be successfully used not only for printing banknotes. Paper with security features is suitable for printing such as letterhead, merchandise, labels, tags, and more. (See sidebar on page 26).

04.09.2015 16.10.2015 by [email protected]

Neat piles of coins are undoubtedly beautiful and even very impressive, but when the same coins pull the pocket, it’s not pleasant enough. But paper banknotes can even be rolled into a tube, even folded in a pile - it’s convenient. But how these banknotes are made is a state secret, the veil of which we will lift a little.

money paper

Paper money is an ancient and completely non-European invention. In Europe, the printing of paper banknotes was started only at the end of the 17th century.

The pioneers in money printing were the Swedes. 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 Palmstruh, proposed the introduction of a new monetary unit - temporary credit paper (Kreditivsedlar). In July 1661, a batch of banknotes was printed.

Alas, Mr. Palmstruch suffered a serious setback: there was too much money printed, and for his mistake he paid with his head in the most literal sense. Only a few banknotes from that batch have been preserved, which today are the rarest specimens and the dream of many collectors.

What kind of paper money was not printed on. Once, several books, including liturgical ones, were even used for this work. However, it turned out that paper banknotes "live" for a very short time and therefore it is necessary to find the most durable version of paper, which will extend the life of paper money for at least a few months.

Without going into details, paper is made from wood, more precisely, from cellulose obtained from it. And for the manufacture of extra strong paper for printing money, cotton and linen fibers are used. In addition, in order for the paper to be as strong as possible, various impregnations and fillers are mixed with it. Paper is processed either only superficially, or even at the manufacturing stage. For sizing, starch, melamine-formaldehyde resin and other similar materials are used, which give new banknotes this magical unique crunch.

The process of making money paper is a laborious task, and the technology has quite a lot in common with the method used by the Arabs in antiquity. Sheets, which at the final stage will be cut into banknotes, are formed on the grid of the paper machine from the liquid mass. The basis is water, in which fibrous components are suspended. Along the way, the water flows off, and a fibrous layer is formed on the mesh, which is then sent under a press and then dried.

Money paper differs from ordinary paper in that it is not bleached. It is for this reason that under ultraviolet rays, banknotes look dark, and plain paper will luminesce with blue light. After the sheets are ready, a real crash test awaits them.

The paper must be tested for durability: first, with instruments, then future banknotes are folded, torn and compared with standards of whiteness and haze. Good money paper should not change its color and reduce mechanical strength in the sun. The best indicators in this sense are shown by sheets made of flax and cotton fibers. The ink layer on the paper should be well fixed and be strong enough for abrasion.

2. Banknote protection

To minimize the possibility of counterfeiting banknotes, which is a serious state crime, various security elements are added to money paper. The first and only frontier of protection was watermarks, which are formed during the casting of paper due to the different thickness of the fiber layer.

Over time, it turned out that watermarks alone were not enough and they began to introduce additional protective elements. They began to add narrow polymer strips to the paper - security threads. They can be different: shiny metallized, transparent or not, fluorescent in ultraviolet and even magnetic. The thread can be hidden in the mass of paper or located partly in the mass, and partly on the surface of the banknote - a diving thread. Often microtext is printed on security threads.

3. Printing pattern on banknotes

To apply an appropriate pattern to the money 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 else.

Offset printing. It is used to print the background grid, various rosettes and the main pattern on small banknotes. Three color groups are used - blue, red and yellow. Both sides of the banknote are printed simultaneously, modern printing machines operate at speeds up to 8,000 sheets per hour.

Letterpress. Metal engraving is done by hand, which is converted into a metal plate, which is then used for printing. This method is used for drawing a pattern on large banknotes and small elements on banknotes of a smaller denomination.

Metallography. Gravure printing method: the ink that fills the recesses in the printing plate is transferred to the paper under great pressure. In this case, the paper is pressed into the recesses. The intaglio pattern protrudes above the surface of the paper, which is determined by touch and is clearly visible when magnified. Even the thinnest strokes of the print are distinguished by high definition.

Iris rumble. Have you noticed a smooth change in the color of the print lines along one of the sides of the bill? This is the iris peal. Another unique way is the Oryol seal. The main sign of such a print is the exact combination of differently colored elements without breaks and line shifts. The Oryol seal is used to apply ornaments, protective nets, rosettes, etc.

In addition to printing itself, embossing, perforation and numbering are also used. All this allows you to track the circulation of paper banknotes, establish their authenticity, as well as control wear and tear and replace old banknotes with new ones.

Paper with protective properties is used not only in the manufacture of paper money, but also in the issuance of securities, packaging of prestigious and expensive goods, documents of particular importance. A special material developed using a special technology creates an almost insurmountable obstacle for intruders who often seek to counterfeit banknotes.

Special papers with protective characteristics fall into several categories. The material of the highest quality, belonging to the first category, just becomes the raw material for the manufacture of banknotes.

Passports and other identification documents are also made from such paper, which are subject to the highest requirements in terms of protection against forgery.

Financiers often say that money loves silence. Therefore, it is not surprising that the technology for the production of money paper in any state belongs to the highest category of secrecy. The inhabitants, who are not privy to the intricacies of production, know only the simplest distinguishing features of such paper, which, however, quite reliably distinguish a real bill from a skillful one.

Protective paper technology

Security papers are made in a completely different way than the products that go into the production of newspapers and magazines. There are differences in the composition of the raw materials, and in the accuracy of the equipment, and in the special methods of processing the material. At different stages of the manufacture of special paper, special additives are added to the composition, which become elements of protection.

Manufacturers of raw materials for issuing banknotes meet strict requirements for the density of paper and its weight per square centimeter of area. A certain amount of cotton fibers and other substances are added to the composite mass, most of which is cellulose, which become visible only under special lighting, for example, under the action of ultraviolet radiation.

It is believed that good protection is provided by the presence of at least three types of fibers of different origin in paper.

One of the distinguishing features of banknotes is watermarks. They are formed at one of the stages of the technological process of dressing raw materials, using the so-called embossed calendering cylinders. Passing between the shafts, the paper web changes its thickness in certain places. After that, a visual effect appears, which is a latent image. It can be either text located both over the entire area of ​​the bill, and in its individual places.

For some time now, multi-colored fibers of different lengths have been introduced into banknotes. They are usually visible even without special lighting, although some types of bills may include villi, which appear only under the influence of ultraviolet lamps. This method of protection is good because it is almost impossible for attackers to reproduce it using copying or printing equipment.