Today’s BankNote of the Day is a continuation of yesterday’s discussion of currency. The topic is printing. Most printers of current notes use a method called ‘intaglio’ printing. What exactly is it, and how does it differ from ‘regular’ offset printing commonly used in other materials?

Offset printing is printing where a raised image is inked and rolled onto paper. The ‘high spots’ receive the ink. It works much like a rubber stamp on a roller.

Intaglio, pronounced in-tal-ee-oh, printing works like offset printing but the exception is where the ink is on the plate. The ink is forced into the ‘grooved’ parts of the plate and the raised surface of the plate is wiped clean. In order for the ink to get onto the paper, a tremendous force (20,000 pounds per square inch) is applied to the roller causing the paper to be forced into the small groves engraved into the plate. When this is done the paper is no longer a flat surface, it is compressed where there is no ink and the inked surfaces are raised. Think of a coin being minted and the die is inked, then wiped clean leaving residue ink in the tiny crevasses before the coin is struck. The coin will be 2 dimensions with the ink on the highest surfaces.

Where ink is applied to the raised surface areas on plates, the pressure of the rollers can cause ink to ‘ooze’ and not produce a sharp clean image. With intaglio printing, the ink is in a groove and cannot ‘ooze’ during the printing process. Because of this the micro-printing is possible. Micro-printing by other means is never as sharp and clean.

This, combined with the high quality cotton/linen blend of paper, is why our money ‘feels’ and looks the way it does. It is a ‘feel’ and sharpness counterfeiters have a hard time duplicating. So the next time you pull out a note, take a good look at it….. ENGOY!!!