What is paper money made from? Technologies for creating paper money. Production of paper for money in the USSR and modern Russia

How is paper money made?

The Chinese were the first to use cellulose fibers to produce a lightweight analogue of metal money. Paper is still used for the same purpose today. Of course, the complexity of the technological process for producing 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 loading cotton (we are talking about several tons of cotton fibers) into a boiler. Here the source material is kept under very high pressure. After this, the finished mass of fibers is poured into a tank where clarification and cleaning are carried out. After this, the mass is pressed and placed in softeners. The next step is adding a special paint that changes the shade of the still wet paper. At this stage, recognition watermarks are also created (more about them below).

Sheets with security fibers and watermarks are sent to dry, after which the paper is rolled into rolls. The weight of each roll can be several tons.

In addition to paper, the production of paper money also requires special dyes, chemical compounds, and complex equipment. The domestic Goznak purchases inks for banknotes from the Swiss company SICPA (it makes special protective printing inks, inks for sealing products, and develops coding systems for excisable goods). According to representatives of Goznak, due to the growth of the Swiss franc, the costs of producing domestic banknotes are growing quite quickly.
But Swiss paint has always been considered the highest quality. The cost of purchasing paint for the production of banknotes in Europe and the world on average amounts to about 60% of the total cost of purchasing components and producing 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 should be durable so that it does not become worthless too quickly. The main indicator of the wear resistance of money is its resistance to fracture and tearing. Paper bills are constantly folded and unbent, they are pulled by corners and other parts. Therefore they should not tear. Tensile strength is determined using a dynamometer. This characteristic is expressed by the estimated length in meters of a strip of paper, with a break from its own weight. For money paper, this figure is thousands of meters (more than for ordinary paper).

In order to ensure high quality and durability of the printed design, money paper must have the required degree of whiteness, opacity, smoothness and light fastness. 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 levels of security. Among others, watermarks are used, which can also serve as a kind of decoration. Watermarks are created while the paper is cast. 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; this requires precise, modern equipment. The watermark in some cases is combined with the design of the banknote itself.

The production of money paper usually has a watermark workshop, where a large number of highly qualified specialists work. In particular, these are engravers who transfer artists' drawings onto stamps and a metal mesh of the so-called dendirol shaft. Sometimes the designs are transferred to the mesh of the cylinder of the round mesh machine. Dendirol is an equalizer that is installed on the machine grid, and when rotated, forms an imprint of its watermark on the paper web. This method is commonly used to create paper with a generic watermark. If you need an artistic local sign, it can be obtained by hand casting or using a cylindrical boom machine. In this case, the designs of the sign are stamped on the mesh of the cylinder, and when forming the paper web, all the conditions are created that make it possible to obtain a multi-tone artistic sign. Banknotes of many countries also have special protective (often colored or metallic) fibers.

The watermark must be clearly visible on all banknotes, and be absolutely identical for all banknotes of the same circulation. It is not easy to fake a watermark, this is especially true for portraits.

Throughout the entire period of circulation of paper money, its identity must be ensured. In practice, this means that if a banknote, a sample of a banknote, is valid for several decades, then the money that was produced in the last years of the validity of this bill must be identical to the money that was issued at the very beginning of the period. True, during this period some changes may be made - for example, new protection measures may be added. The decision to modify the appearance of banknotes is made by special authorities, all changes are recorded. In Russia, such control is exercised by the Bank of Russia.
Development of a banknote

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

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

After the sketch is ready, specialists create a printed project with special printing forms that allow the banknotes to be replicated in the future. The highest-class specialists take part here, including photographers, engravers, artists, etchers, stamp engravers, and designers. In the case of Russia, these personnel are trained only by Goznak. The modern process of money production necessarily includes computer technology. As soon as the first printed draft of the 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 reproducing money begins.

Printing money

There are four main printing methods used in the paper money printing process. These are offset, metallographic, typographic 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 pressing machines for the production of banknotes on the world market. These machines, in particular, are used at Goznak.

Oryol seal

Even though this printing method was developed in 1891, it is still used today. The name of the printing process comes from the name of Goznak specialist Ivan Orlov, who developed this method. Then, to print banknotes using a typographic method, it was necessary to prepare a separate printing form for each color of the banknote design. Each shape was imprinted on a piece of special paper. The matching of paint lines and boundaries using this method was not ideal, since even the use of a computer and industrial systems does not give an ideal result, not to mention the technology of the late 19th century.

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

The advantage of the method is that it allows you to apply a design onto banknotes with almost pinpoint accuracy, with all the boundaries of the designs and lines matching. In addition, the method allows you to create the required fragment of a design that matches the original with almost 100% accuracy during just one run of the sheet through the printing machine. It is difficult for a counterfeiter to repeat such precision, although, of course, there are specialists 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, the main design is sometimes applied using offset printing. Since ink is transferred from the printing plate to paper through an intermediate offset cylinder, the image itself on the printing plate is made straight, not mirrored.

Interestingly, with this printing method, regular and white-space form elements are located in the same plane. But the surfaces of elements have different physical and chemical properties. Thus, the printing elements are hydrophobic; they hold ink well, repelling moisture. But the space elements are hydrophilic, they absorb water, but repel paint.

Banknote inks are usually divided into three color groups. This is the blue group, red and yellow. For each group, a special form is made using a photo method. The paint from the plates is first transferred to the rubber coating of the cylinder, and the cylinder prints the design on the paper.

Here's how US dollars are printed:

Metallographic printing

This is another common method of printing banknotes. It has been known for a long time, and was first used for banknotes in 1887. For printing in this case, specially made forms made of steel or nickel are used.
These forms are almost perfectly polished plates, onto which the desired pattern is applied using a special press. The original form is made by hand using engraving. In Russian there is a special term for the original form. This is the "original stamp". When printing banknotes using this method, parts of the engraving machines create complex patterns for the banknotes. 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, combined with hand engraving and printed font, form a single image of the banknote. This image, after production, is replicated for the printing process. True, this requires high-precision equipment, as a rule, a high-frequency machine and an automated electroplating line.

According to experts, the main advantage of the metallographic printing method is that it can be used to reproduce a wide range of bright tones for printing. If you use different depths and widths of drawing, you can achieve a wide variety of colorful effects, often three-dimensional.

When printing, ink is applied to printing plates using prepared rubber templates. It goes to engraving and whitespace elements. Afterwards, the paint is washed off from these elements, and the form is ready for applying the design to paper. The design is applied by 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 deeper in relation to the white space. And letterpress printing, when the printing elements on the forms are located above the whitespace. Letterpress printing is used to apply designs on large banknotes, serial numbers and a number of important elements of small and large denomination banknotes.

After the bills are printed, the uncut sheets are sent to a special workshop where they are cut into individual bills. After this, the money is counted using a machine and packaged, they are sent to “freely float” throughout the country and abroad.

The first money appeared a very, very long time ago. At first, their functions were performed by stones, pearls, mollusk shells and other objects that were at hand. All this was replaced by metal coins, and then it came to paper. What is paper money made of? What kind of material is used to create modern banknotes?

What is paper money made of?

Forging coins, of course, is a fascinating activity, but it was accompanied by a number of difficulties. Firstly, the metal for them must first be mined. Secondly, the coins were too heavy - one bunch could weigh about three kilograms.

They first tried to replace inconvenient money around the 1st century BC. e. in China, using deer skin. This invention did not become widespread, and in the 9th century AD. e. China already had paper currency.

It was much lighter, more convenient and more like a certificate or receipt of a person’s ability to pay, which a merchant could exchange for coins. Independent banknotes appeared a century later. They were made from wood and plant pulp mixed with starch or glue. The materials were usually wood ash and mulberry bark.

Over the years, banknote production technology has long changed. What is paper money made from now? The raw materials for them are cotton and flax in various proportions. They contain more cellulose than regular wood, which means they provide greater strength and durability. The amount of cotton depends on the specific country, but generally ranges from 70% and above. In the USA, for example, it is 75%, and the remaining 25% is flax.

Manufacturing process

Now that we've learned what paper money is made of, let's talk about the technology itself. To begin with, the plant material is converted into a single liquid mass. Then it is poured onto a special mesh, on which the water is filtered and only a mixture of fibers remains.

For ebb or straining, there are two types of equipment. Table machines look like a flat horizontal grid. The round mesh machine has the shape of a cylinder. To get rid of residual moisture, the mixture is placed under a press and then dried.

The main qualities that a banknote must have are resistance to various mechanical influences. To add strength, starch, resins or other substances are added to the fibrous mass. Sometimes the surface of money paper is also impregnated with them.

After production, banknotes are carefully checked for susceptibility to breaking and tearing. High-quality paper should withstand up to several thousand double bends, and its breaking length should be at least a thousand meters.

Anti-counterfeit protection

To prevent money from being copied, watermarks are often used - certain images that appear on paper when viewed in the light. This is a kind of relief embossing on the fibers. It is applied with a special roller, eguter, at the stage of casting the mixture. In places where the roller is applied, the fibers become thinner, which creates the desired effect.

In addition, to make the banknote unique, relief designs, metallized ribbons, microthreads and microfonts, and holograms are used. Thanks to this, it becomes more difficult to copy money, and it is easier to identify the attacker.

All this prevents counterfeiters from counterfeiting money. But all this came to us from the past.

At the moment, everything has changed with the purchase of a color laser copier.

This machine can print a banknote so well that it will be difficult to distinguish it from a real one.

But in plain light they are not visible, and this is all due to the fact that they are made of narrow threads woven into paper.

Taking the twenty dollar bill, we can notice three narrow circle lines near the portrait.

How to make money out of paper?

How to make counterfeit money: instructions

It's easy to make fake money, but remember that these are counterfeit bills, albeit for the game.

Explain to your children that they cannot be used to pay in stores, otherwise they will have to pay a large fine.

• White paper
• coffee, tea or food coloring
• Printer
• scissors
• pen or pencil

First of all, you need to prepare the paper. Money is rarely perfectly white; usually the paper is brownish or grayish. To give white paper the shade of banknotes that have already been in circulation, you need to dye them.

You can do this with coffee or tea.

Tip 1: What kind of paper is used to print money?

Ask if there is a loan servicing fee, which can be charged monthly and calculated both for the balance of the debt and for the entire loan amount.

DIY toy money

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Three simple ways to make money with your own hands

Let's look at some options. The fastest way to make money from paper is to find the desired photo on the Internet and print it on a printer at home or go to a copy center.

For people with artistic skills, it will be easy to draw banknotes.

It is not at all necessary that they be a copy of real banknotes.

You can come up with your own currency or redraw an existing game currency. For example, from the game "Monopoly".

If you have a scanner and printer at hand, you can simply scan real bills and then print them.

If you don't have a scanner, you can take a photo of the banknote with your phone or camera.

For printing, a color MFP or laser printer is better suited.

To make money more believable, you should dye the paper on which it will be printed or drawn in tea or coffee. The process of making such paper is simple:

The resulting sheet color will more closely resemble the material on which real money is printed.

If you take office paper with a density of 180-210 grams, then such banknotes will resemble real ones even to the touch.

Tabletop economic strategies are becoming popular again. The cost of one such game in a store can be higher than 2000-2500 rubles.

Making such a strategy manually is quite simple.

Fake money would be a great addition to board games, educational activities with children, and even performances. However, you should always carefully comply with all legal regulations if you decide to make such money. First, color the paper or immediately take sheets of different bright colors. Then create the design of your banknotes manually or download a ready-made template from the Internet. Print or copy the final result, cut out the notes and apply them as you intended.

Steps

Part 1

Mix water and coffee in a bowl or frying pan. If you do not want your banknotes to be bright white, you can try pre-coloring the paper with coffee to make the color of the banknotes closer to the real one. Take a coffee cup and fill it halfway with hot water. Add 3 tablespoons (about 45 ml) instant coffee and stir quickly. You will end up with a dark brown liquid. Pour it into a shallow bowl or frying pan.

• If you want the notes to be only slightly yellowed, add a little more water to the mug.
• If you don't have instant coffee on hand, you can use a tea bag and brew it in a cup of hot water.
• To make the color of the banknotes even more interesting, add 1-2 drops of green food coloring to the mug and stir quickly. This will give the banknotes a greenish tint.

Dip the paper into the solution. Take a piece of paper, bring it to the bowl of solution and dip it into it. Try to wet both sides of the sheet evenly. This will give you a consistent color. Work as quickly as possible so as not to soak the paper to the point where it begins to tear.

Place one sheet of paper on a plate. Take a microwave-safe plate and place one sheet of paper on it. The paper should lie flat and directly in the center of the plate. You will need separate plates for each sheet of paper. Or you will have to wait until each sheet cools down after heating in the microwave.

Microwave each individual sheet of paper to dry it. Place the plate with paper in the microwave on high for 20 seconds. Then remove the plate and touch the paper with your finger. If it is still wet, heat it for another 10 seconds, repeat until the paper is dry. Set the finished sheet of paper aside. Repeat the process with another plate and sheet of paper.

Alternatively, let the paper dry on its own. If you decide not to use the microwave, place baking paper on baking sheets. Make sure that the sheets do not overlap each other, otherwise the drying time will increase. You can also hang the paper to dry on a clothesline using clothespins.

Part 2

1. Strictly comply with the law. Know that the issuance of funds is regulated by the state, and counterfeiting is punishable by law. It is recommended to reduce fake money to 75% of the size of real banknotes or increase it to 150%. It is also wise to make the money one-sided or add a faint diagonal “toy” or “sample” to it. Be sure to check the current legislation so as not to get into trouble for “counterfeiting”.

2. Design your own banknotes. If you want to avoid working with a computer and printer, you can use a pen and draw all the necessary elements of banknotes directly on paper. Try first placing a real banknote on the paper, and then tracing its outer contours. Then, using a capillary or gel pen, freehand draw the necessary details of the banknote inside the resulting rectangle.

   • This method is especially good for creating fake money for children's entertainment, as it allows you (or the children) to put any image on the banknotes.

3. Download toy money templates. Sit down at your computer and search for “toy money patterns” or “play money”. Download the document you like and add any necessary details. In some cases, you will have the opportunity to change the numbers and inscriptions on the template. You can also adjust the size of the banknote so that it does not violate any laws.

   • On some sites you can even create banknote templates with your own photo in the center.

4. Use official banknote samples from the Central Bank. On the website of the Central Bank, for information purposes, samples of banknotes of the Russian Federation are presented, on which the appropriate inscription “sample” is affixed. If necessary, you can use the images presented there. Just go to the website, open the page of the banknote you need and download a sample of its appearance so that you can print it later.

   • Moreover, on the Central Bank website you will also find an image of coins.

5. Buy ready-made play money. In addition, you have the opportunity to find organizations that sell fancy dress costumes, as well as goods for holidays and entertainment. They have ready-made sets of banknotes for filming, theatrical productions and other purposes. At the same time, banknotes can be both quite realistic and generalized copies of real money, which will look like them from afar.

   • By purchasing ready-made play money, you can be sure that it does not violate legal requirements.
   • However, buying fake money can be quite expensive. You must fully understand what exactly you are buying with your funds.
   • In most cases, you will need to buy a whole roll or stack of notes rather than individual notes.

* * *

Hello, dear readers! The payment symbol, which we call “paper money,” was not always printed on paper. The predecessor of paper was leather, silk and other types of dense fabrics, as well as wood. Nowadays, money paper is mostly made from cotton. In other options, flax or Manila hemp - abaca - can be used. But hybrid types are already rushing to replace them - semi-synthetic paper and even plastic. Let's see what paper money is made from, and where it all began?

The first paper for money

Since the invention of writing, humanity has constantly needed material on which to write. Long before the invention of paper, papyrus and parchment were used for these purposes. In Ancient Rus', writing on birch bark and leather spread. In China itself, the predecessor of paper was a material made from bamboo and hemp. Silk was also used. But all the options were extremely inconvenient. Bamboo weighed a lot, and the high cost of silk did not allow it to be used as a basis for recordings. Moreover, the recordings turned out to be blurry and not resistant to humid conditions. Tsai Lun is considered the inventor of paper, but even before him paper made from hemp was already known, but it was not widely used.

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The convenience of the proposed invention lay in the fact that practically waste products were taken for harvesting: torn fishing nets, scraps of fabric and tree bark. This material was crushed and soaked in water for a long time. When the base turned into a homogeneous soft mass, it was poured into special molds and dried in the sun. This is where the production term “Paper Casting” was born. But almost a millennium had to pass before this material was embodied in money.

Some researchers claim that high-quality types of paper were used for the first paper money. Others point to information that the first banknotes were very fragile and their circulation period did not exceed three years. It is impossible to verify this, since none of the early banknotes (Tang dynasty) have survived. The history of Chinese paper money is studied from copies of the second millennium AD. Surviving samples demonstrate good paper quality. It is suitable for applying multi-color ink, and the inscriptions did not smudge. Paper money became established as the predominant medium of exchange during the Yuan Dynasty. During this era, money paper was made from mulberry bark. Protective methods were already known: the paper was impregnated with a dye made from plants and fibers, the composition of which was kept secret.

Paper for money in Tsarist Russia

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The book "Apostle" and the USSR ruble in honor of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov

Europe was delayed in producing paper from China by a thousand years. They learned to do it within the Russian lands much later. Russia became a paper producer only during the reign of Ivan the Fourth (the Terrible). But we should note the merit of Peter the Great, who perfectly understood the importance of paper for state needs. It was at his instigation that stamp paper acquired a watermark in 1723. By order of the emperor, the Krasnoselsk paper manufactory was built in 1716. It was on it that paper was produced for the first Russian banknotes in 1769. Since 1785, production moved to the paper manufactory of Tsarskoe Selo. The already developed technologies for creating a watermark were applied to banknote paper. The paint and text were applied at the Senate Printing House.

Surviving copies of “Catherines” confirm that the quality of paper for the first Russian paper money was not up to par. The paper received its characteristic color when modified notes were issued in 1786. If notes in denominations of 50 and 100 rubles were printed on white paper, then for twenty-five ruble bills they used light beige paper. Five rubles became blue, and ten rubles became red. These colors predominated on these denominations for several centuries. The quality of the paper has improved and the watermark has become more complex.

Everything changed after the Patriotic War of 1812, when the country was flooded with counterfeits, and the exchange rate of the paper ruble fell to 20 kopecks in coins. The project for the organization of the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers (EZGB), proposed by Lieutenant General Augustin Augustinovich Betancourt in 1816, was approved at the very top. The emperor's notes remain: “The plan and estimates presented to me, drawn up by you for the establishment of a factory for making banknote sheets and other stamped papers, I examined in detail, and approving them with all my might, I command, out of my special power of attorney for you and respect for excellent knowledge, to carry out this arrangement to completed and in full operation under your direct supervision and supervision". Construction was completed at the beginning of 1818. And by the fall they had already begun printing the first batch of new twenty-five-ruble banknotes.

The production of paper for money of the new generation required roller boxes for grinding hemp and rags into a mass and ladle vats for manual casting of paper. EZGB was a unique production facility where paper was produced and sent to its own printing house. The quality of paper has constantly improved. The finished product began to be exported. The expedition carefully took care of the selection of specialists, who were searched throughout Russia and invited from abroad.

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Production of banknote paper in Tsarist Russia

Initially, paper was made by hand. The basis for hand-casting paper can be called hemp. Hemp went through many preliminary stages: ruffling the fibers, soaking, boiling in lye, bleaching. Then the resulting material was thoroughly ground. Roller boxes were used for this. The homogeneous paper pulp fell into the vats. The scooper picked up the composition and distributed it over the surface of the mold. As a result, a sheet of paper came out. To remove moisture, the paper was lined with cloth and placed under a press. They dried it like laundry - on lines. Then, to give strength, impregnation with animal glue followed. The pressing and drying processes alternated. Finally, the resulting sheet was placed between copper boards and placed under a press. After removal from the boards, a finished product was obtained, suitable for printing money.

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In 1864, the Expedition acquired two machines for casting “endless” paper. This made it possible to implement a continuous flow paper casting process. The paper pulp was prepared in eight digesters and thirty-two rolls. Paper finishing was carried out by calenders (a machine for continuously molding a paper sheet by passing it through a gap between rotating shafts when a given thickness and width are achieved).

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Has money paper ever had increased thickness and density? For example, let us recall those published at the very end of the existence of the Russian Empire. They tried to replace the lack of copper coins. On the obverse there was an image of the Tsar of the Romanov House, taken from the cliche of the anniversary series of postage stamps. On the back, instead of an adhesive coating, there is an explanatory inscription: “It circulates on a par with a small change.” Such a “banknote” cannot be checked for a watermark, since its thickness and density did not allow the banknote to be viewed against the light.

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Production of paper for money in the USSR and modern Russia

When examining paper under a microscope, you can see that these are small plant fibers (the main part is cellulose), mechanically woven together. Chemical bonds also provide adhesion strength. Automated casting occurs on the paper machine screen. A liquid suspension of fibrous components goes through the stages of removing excess moisture by pressing and drying. The composition of paper for domestic money is predominantly cotton and flax fibers, where pure cellulose is more than ninety percent. To enhance strength, the paper is sized either in the mass or on the surface. For this purpose, melamine-formaldehyde resin, starch or their analogues are used.

Several tons of fiber are kept under high pressure in a special broiler for about two hours. This suspension undergoes clarification and purification in a huge tank. After completing these technological stages, the workpiece mass is placed under a press and then transferred to a softening apparatus. Experts point out that it is then that money paper acquires the incomparable crunch we are familiar with (due to the introduction of various fillers that improve the quality of the paper) and acquires wear resistance.

Two types of papermaking machines are used: table (flat mesh) and cylindrical (round mesh). The first ones form paper on a long horizontal grid. For the latter, a mesh cylinder is used for this purpose. The process of producing paper with a local watermark in the USSR was carried out on cylindrical machines, since it is the mesh of the cylinder, when forming a watermark on paper, that ensures its strict fixation relative to other elements of the design of the bill being prepared. Paper with a common watermark could be produced on any type of machine. Elements of protection against counterfeiters are directly present in the paper. These are thin fibers of various colors that allow them to glow in ultraviolet light. This is a metallized thread that is embedded in the paper, coming to the surface in certain places.

St. Petersburg paper mill of Goznak

The advance of Yudenich's troops forced the Soviet authorities to think about moving the capital from Petrograd to Moscow. Together with the authorities, the printing department of the EZGB is also moving. Paper production remains in Petrograd. On its basis, the Leningrad Paper Mill of Goznak was born. The replacement of equipment in the pre-war years allowed the factory to develop a wide range of paper products: parcel paper, punched card, coated, photosensitive, phototype and paper for cartographic needs. There have also been changes in the production of paper for money. Hemp fiber is gradually being replaced by cotton. To add strength, sizing with animal glue is used. For greater savings, some types of money and securities are made from cotton linters and hemp floss.

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During the blockade, the production of paper for money was stopped, but the factory did not stop working. For some time, anti-mustard and bond paper have been produced. Then the factory is transferred to the production of food cellulose. A return to the previous tracks occurred after the blockade was broken. Appointed director of the factory in April 1943, Ivan Andreevich Selivanovich takes on the restoration processes at a rapid pace. Paper-making machine No. 3 was connected to the paper production process in August 1943. By 1946, four more machines came into operation. The composition of production means is expanded by cylindrical machine No. 6. All units put into operation begin to rapidly produce paper for banknotes of the 1947 reform.

The rebirth of the Leningrad factory occurs in the 70s and 80s. A new building for modern equipment is being built. In addition to monetary paper, specialists are starting to produce previously scarce varieties. An example is Astrolux, a high-gloss coated paper for art publications and albums. By the early 90s, the factory produced about fifty different types of paper, which included a product with watermarks for documents and money.

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The difficult period of the 90s does not stop the work of the factory, because more and more paper banknotes are required. An order of the Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation in 1995 renamed the enterprise the St. Petersburg Paper Mill of Goznak. The development of the production park does not stop either. In the 2000s, new equipment was constantly purchased, which allowed the factory to maintain its position in the international market. Banknote paper produced in St. Petersburg is used by our partners in the CIS, as well as countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle and Far East and even Africa.

Krasnokamsk paper mill of Goznak

Already in the mid-20s, the USSR was faced with a shortage of paper for money and documents. The Leningrad factory could not meet all the needs of a huge country. A new paper mill begins construction in the Perm region. The city of Krasnokamsk was chosen as its location. The construction process began in 1933, and by 1937 it came to completion. In 1934, the first graduation of production technicians for the Krasnokamsk factory took place at the Leningrad Pulp and Paper College. On December 9, 1936, the first roll of plain gray paper was cast at the factory, and by the end of the year the output was 53.4 tons. Technological processes were launched to the planned extent only in 1940. The range of products (about 30 items), of course, also included paper for money.

During the war years, the production of payment marks in Krasnokamsk acquired key importance for the country. Leningrad is under siege. Moscow is under threat of capture. Therefore, Krasnokamsk, in addition to the paper mill, hosts the mint, which operated until 1949, and part of the equipment of the Moscow Printing Factory. From the second half of 1941 to August 1943, paper for money and government documents was produced exclusively in Krasnokamsk.

After the end of the war, production processes only expanded. In addition to document paper for passports and party tickets, the production of paper for postage stamps has been launched. Production buildings are growing, one of which houses a complex for bleaching cellulose, which produces a paper base of increased whiteness and strength. In the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution, a cylindrical paper-making machine was put into operation, on which paper was created with both general and local watermarks. The advantage of the new generation technology is the ability to weave metallized threads and double-sided gluing.

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The mid-80s is another technical re-equipment. The company launches four paper cutting machines equipped with electronic sorting and control devices. Sheet cutting and rejection are automated, since the output product is scanned with a special beam that can detect defects (large debris in the sheets or mechanical damage). In addition to paper for money, paper for magazines and art products is created in Krasnokamsk, which received an award at the All-Union Exhibition of Books and Posters in 1983.

Internal "kitchen" of production (Workshop No. 22)

Currently, FSUE Goznak has significantly expanded the production of paper products in Krasnokamsk. 2018 is a milestone from which the launch of the most modern equipment for the production of banknote and security paper begins. For this purpose, a new banknote body was built. Paper produced in Krasnokamsk is supplied not only for printing domestic money, but is exported to various countries around the world.

Characteristics of paper for money

Wear resistance is the top priority here. It is determined by the resistance to fracture and tearing. Most banknotes do not remain in their original PRESS state for long. They constantly bend and unbend. For comparison, we point out that ordinary office paper begins to tear after two dozen double folds, which is unacceptable for banknotes. What is the name of the apparatus on which the value of the fracture resistance of money paper is determined? His name is Falzer (from the German "Falzer"). Suitable samples can withstand several thousand double bends. The tensile strength can be determined using a dynamometer. The calculation is based on the length of the strip of paper that breaks under its own weight. The length of the strip of money paper should reach several thousand meters. The third pillar in this company will be edge tear resistance, for which technical standards in most cases are not provided, but a significant value is assumed.

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Wear resistance determines the life of the banknote. But it is not the only parameter. A lot depends on the state of cash flow at a particular moment. When the five-thousandth banknote was a curiosity, its service life was from five to seven years, but the paper ten was in circulation so quickly that it failed in 10-12 months. Now the situation has changed. Paper tens have practically given way to steel ones; it is difficult to find them in circulation. Prices have increased, reducing the life of a 5,000 ruble banknote to four years. The allotted period for the hundred-ruble payment is two years. Every year, the Central Bank of Russia puts into circulation approximately two and a half billion new banknotes, but the same number of banknotes are destroyed annually due to dilapidation.

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No less important characteristics of money paper were and remain its whiteness and smoothness. Whiteness is characterized by stability, since it should not lose its light shade in the process of money circulation. Light fastness determines how much the mechanical strength of paper decreases under the influence of sunlight and other light sources. Flax and cotton fibers are also used in the production of money paper because they have the highest resistance to aging. The opacity of the paper is also taken into account. After all, the authenticity of the Eurobanknotes of the first issue was also checked by the coincidence of individual elements of the design of both sides of the bill into something whole when it was looked at through the light. With completely opaque paper this would not be possible.

Experimental pilot series of banknotes

However, money paper is tested not only in experimental laboratories, but also in constant use. To do this, test banknotes are put into circulation, and after a certain period of time they are withdrawn and checked to see how resistant they turned out to be under real conditions. They are filtered out by series in the issue. For the 2001 modification, three experimental banknotes are known. This is 50 rubles in the AB series and 100 rubles in the AB series. So few of the latter have been identified in the collecting environment that every known specimen is considered a rarity. Beginners tend to confuse this expensive rarity with the 100 ruble banknote of the AB series, but already modified in 2004. Or they don’t pay attention to the size of the letters. The “ab” series for the hundred-ruble note is ordinary and has nothing to do with the experimental banknotes.

However, for the 2004 modification there are treasured hundred-ruble bills. In this case, you should look for the FF, UU and CC series. True, banknotes of the TsTs series do not differ from the standard either in the composition of the paper or in the protective varnish. For workers in the papermaking industry, it is important that this series was put into circulation at the same time as the others. By comparing the degree of wear of the prototype (FF and CU) and the reference one (CC), the results will be summed up as to whether the changes in the composition of the paper and varnish turned out to be positive. In 2006, an experiment was carried out on paper ten-ruble notes. The experimental banknotes were the TsTs and FF series, the latter of which represented paper of a new composition.

Eleven series of experimental banknotes took part in the 2016 experiment. True, the experiment can hardly be considered successful. Somehow, the information leaked to the side, and the coupon sellers began to withdraw the required bills directly from banking institutions in the “PRESS” state. Here you need to pay attention not only to the series, but also to the first digit of the number (from “1” to “5”). It characterizes the thickness of the varnish coating. Control banknotes, which do not differ from circulation banknotes, are those whose number begins with “5”. The market quickly became saturated, and banknotes of the UA, UB, UE, UK, UL, UN, US, УХ, УЧ and Уь series can now be purchased at a price not much higher than the face value. The exception is the UO series, since bonists consider it a replacement series (replacing defective banknotes of other experimental series and numbers with seven zeros), where the number of copies does not exceed forty thousand for each of the experimental directions in the thickness of the varnish layer (from “1” to “5 "). The “General Collection” in this case will consist of 55 banknotes, of which the five “UO” banknotes will not be easy to obtain.

How much do experimental series banknotes cost? At the end of the first quarter of 2018, the approximate value of rare and valuable banknotes was as follows:

The role of paper in the process of making counterfeits

Russia was faced with the problem of counterfeiting paper money immediately after it was put into circulation. The first victim was a banknote worth 75 rubles. It had to be withdrawn from circulation because local “craftsmen” became keen on converting twenty-five-ruble notes into this denomination. After all, the paper of the first issue of banknotes of different denominations was no different.

A huge number of fakes were imported by Napoleon's army. Experts say that more of them have survived than genuine banknotes. The work of French printers does not always copy the original (for example, “walking” instead of “walking”). The main feature is the signature. Domestic banknotes are signed in ink by hand, and on their French copies the signature is printed. What about the paper? It turns out that the French “landing force” can be distinguished by it. Russian money was printed on white paper. In French “rubles,” an admixture of dye gave the paper a bluish tint. It is interesting that Russian banknotes also began to be printed on paper with a slight greenish tint, but this happened already in 1814. In addition, the French surpassed our masters in the clarity of watermarks.

The French received a kind of “response move” in the middle of the twentieth century. The talented inventor Cheslav Boyarsky, who graduated from the Lviv Polytechnic, became rich from high-quality counterfeits of 1000 francs (pre-reform) and 100 francs (post-reform) banknotes. The original method of creating paper involved using real small denomination banknotes as the basis. The only thing Boyarsky could not convey was the characteristic crunch of the banknotes. The experts had no complaints about the quality of the print, and a flaw in the properties of the paper brought Boyarsky to the dock.

However, flooding the monetary turnover of an enemy state with counterfeits is a favorite technique of a technologically advanced country. Let's see how Hitler's Germany hoped to bring down the UK economy. A very important part of the preliminary work was devoted to paper. One study, whether there is cellulose in British banknotes, took a lot of time and money. As a result, it was revealed that there is no cellulose in the banknotes, and the paper was made from flax fibers. But there are a huge number of varieties of this crop on the market. It took a lot of effort to find out that flax is supplied to Great Britain from Turkey. It was not difficult to negotiate with suppliers. The Germans were even able to obtain paper that was virtually indistinguishable from that used by the Bank of England. It’s just that the production process went well manually, but with mechanization the final product was already very different from the original. The work on reproducing the paper from start to finish took two years.

Among domestic counterfeiters, Viktor Ivanovich Baranov stands out. Of course, he paid special attention to the process of paper imitation: “Money can, in principle, be made from any paper. Well, of course, first I used the one that suited me best. And then he came to create a new paper. I combined artificial cellulose with natural one. The result was a paper that was similar in quality to leather and was durable. It was practically resistant to mechanical influence. Therefore, we had to make it somewhat worse. I made a weak paper that could quickly go out of use. By the way, three years after my arrest, the GDR created the same paper. But I’m offended, because it could have been a Russian invention.”.

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But sometimes the alarm about counterfeits turns out to be false. In 1994, the media was full of news that the Perm region was flooded with domestic BM series without a watermark. The detectors did not reject these bills! Was it possible to forge the paper? However, examination of the confiscated sample showed that the payment mark is genuine. Experts were confronted with a rare case of a manufacturing defect released outside Goznak. The watermark showed up, but in the wrong place. The dome of the Kremlin building hid behind the printing press, as the sheet was submitted for printing on the wrong side. The Bank of Russia service offered a free exchange of defective banknotes for banknotes without defects. It’s worth remembering here that bond collectors will value such a marriage much higher than face value.

US dollar paper

As in many other countries, including Russia, paper for American dollars is produced according to a special recipe, which is a US state secret. To prevent the secret from getting out, the monopoly company Crane & Company has been producing paper since 1879. The raw material is scraps of cotton and linen fabrics, which are mixed in the ratio: three parts cotton to one part flax. The initial sorting is done manually. The tested mass is cut and crushed to end up in a rotary kettle. Superheated steam transforms the rags into a homogeneous substance. It is cooled and squeezed before being sent to a washing machine that uses artesian water. At the same time, escaped debris and other foreign elements are eliminated. At the same time, the length of the fibers decreases. The result is paper with a mesh structure, the fibers of which are located parallel to the sides of the future banknote.

Why are dollars not strikingly white? Because the paper does not use optical brightener. This helps with ultraviolet testing, when copies of dollars made on regular paper begin to glow blue, while genuine money remains dark. In normal light, the field of dollars not occupied by the design has a gray-cream color.

Where did the red and blue silk fibers come from in dollars? You can find information that one of the first batches of silk was purchased in Japan. The purchased product was crushed into microscopic pieces and added to the liquid paper pulp. Currently, fibers of different colors are purchased from different companies to make counterfeiting more difficult. But counterfeiters in most cases do not tinker with the fibers, but imitate them by printing or painting them by hand.

The finished paper product is rolled into rolls with a length of seven to eight thousand meters and a standard width of 64.26 centimeters. The weight of the roll varies between 430-440 kilograms. The use of a monopoly firm is not unique to the United States. Before the transition to the euro, Spain also had a paper factory at the mint, the secret of which it alone owned.

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But even such secure banknotes as dollars are constantly being counterfeited. The quality of counterfeits is increasing. Already in 1992, Great Britain warned its partners that in different countries of the world, counterfeits of hundred-dollar bills had begun, practically indistinguishable from real banknotes. Experts studied the composition of the paper and noted with displeasure that its properties (including colored fibers) almost copied Crane & Company products. Perhaps the introduction of 1996 banknotes was due to a problem that arose.

UK banknote paper

At the same time, they set off in a different direction. In January 1994, the release of a new generation of paper was announced. At the time of manufacture, a special symbol is applied to the product, visible only in ultraviolet rays. To prevent abrasion, the paper is covered with a miniature layer of transparent film, which increases the strength of the banknote. The new product did not increase the cost of the process, but, on the contrary, reduced production costs by five times compared to paper, where a watermark was created as protection. Such paper was immediately used not only for printing money, but also for checks, certificates and other documents that must have strong protection against counterfeiting.

Paper for euro banknotes

Eurobanknotes are not that old. But during their creation, technical innovations from several European countries were combined. What paper is used for EU money? Eurozone paper money is created from cotton fibers. The resulting paper has good wear resistance, which extends the service life of banknotes. The structure of the paper also makes counterfeiting more difficult. If we take a closer look, we will find that the front side of the bill has a smooth surface, but the back is rough and hard. We didn’t forget about the usual hearing test. When bent, the euro banknote produces a characteristic crunch. Let us add that the properties of paper for Euromoney allow it not to glow in ultraviolet rays.

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Paper for Asian countries

In Japan, the highest number of counterfeits has been recorded for the 10,000 yen banknote. But the paper used for the 2004 series has not yet been successfully counterfeited. Most counterfeits are eliminated precisely because of low-quality paper, far from the one on which the original yen is printed.

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But in 1979, he proposed starting the production of money paper, the basis for which is pineapple leaves. The positive properties of this paper include its unusual softness and silkiness. It is argued that such paper will be much less contaminated than usual, which will extend the life of the bills. Is the country's currency (New Taiwan Dollar) printed on pineapple paper? It remains a mystery. After all, many banknote exchanges have passed since 1979, the last of which took place in 2007, when the old 500 and 1000 Taiwan dollar banknotes without the holographic stripe left circulation.

Tomorrow is paper for money

The forecasts for the paper are not very encouraging. It is being replaced not only by non-cash payments, but also by polymer production, which makes it possible to produce banknotes whose wear resistance is many times higher than that of paper ones. The pioneer here was the American Banknote Company, which offered printing on the original polymer material Tyvek. This is the development of the world famous American chemical concern DuPont.

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The first pancake turned out to be lumpy. The tropical climate was not conducive to the longevity of banknotes, causing the paint to peel off the plastic, which was the reason for the abandonment of new generation banknotes and a return to familiar bills. In 1988, despite the lack of a tropical climate, the Isle of Man ceased issuing plastic banknotes. However, the Advanced Powers quickly supported the initiative. To mark the bicentennial anniversary of the founding of the first English settlement, Australia is launching the issue of polymer tens. A special feature of the new banknote was the window on which a holographic portrait of Captain James Cook appeared.