Banknote paper is a special paper for the national currency. Watermark is an important part of banknote paper and one of the main anti-counterfeiting measures for banknotes. In most countries, its production is restricted by law. At the same time, it is a sophisticated work of art, which is a high combination of technology and art.
The watermark formed in the process of papermaking is "sandwiched" in the paper rather than on the surface of the paper. People, portraits or figures with light and dark textures can be clearly seen under the illumination of light. It is made by changing the density of pulp fiber in the process of paper production. There are two forms of watermark: one is full-page watermark, that is, the watermark pattern is not fixed on the ticket face, and it is scattered in various parts of banknote paper, like cloth; The other is fixed watermark, that is, the watermark pattern is fixed in a fixed position on the ticket face, and the theme of the picture is often a portrait of a person or an important symbol of the country.
The main purpose of using watermark paper for paper money is to prevent counterfeiting, which can be proved by the following story and the history of watermark making. 1887, some senior officials of the French government bought and sold medals privately, and the president's son-in-law Wilson became one of the defendants. But wily Wilson forged documents and threatened to prove that he had nothing to do with the case. At this time, the court invited the technical personnel of the paper mill for identification. According to the watermark mark of the paper, the technician picked up the certificate provided by Wilson, looked at the bright light and affirmed that this paper was produced in 1885, but the date indicated on the certificate was 1884. So Wilson was punished, the French government and cabinet all resigned, and President Grevi was forced to step down. Watermark was first created by some Italian paper makers in the13rd century.
128 1 year, an Italian papermaker accidentally dropped a copper wire into the paper-making frame. After the paper was made, it was found that there were translucent lines on the paper. This discovery inspired paper makers, so they carved various image patterns on paper curtains filled with pulp. Because of the different concave-convex patterns, the original design patterns appeared obviously on the paper. The paper is thicker where the pattern is concave and thinner where the pattern is convex. This is how watermark paper is made. The early watermark was cross-shaped, with a small circle at both ends of the horizontal arm and a big circle in the middle. It is a symbol of the secret faction of the early Greek church and used it as a secret contact method. For a long time, it was a symbol representing religion. Except for a few paper experts, few people know this function of watermarking. Later, when using paper money in Europe, counterfeit paper money was found, and the anti-counterfeiting of watermark attracted the attention of coin minters. 1666, Stockholm Bank of Sweden took the lead in adopting water-printed paper banknotes, and since then, this method has gradually developed around the world.
At present, banks all over the world have to make various watermark patterns on banknote paper to prevent people from forging banknotes. According to incomplete statistics, there are tens of thousands of watermark patterns used in the world today. Besides paper money, they are also widely used in international documents, product trademarks and various securities.
2. Appreciation of RMB watermark
At present, there are two kinds of watermarks on banknote paper in China, fixed watermark and full-page watermark. 1953 yuan coupon's national prestige image, 15 yuan coupon's Tiananmen image, 10 yuan coupon's farmer head, 100 yuan coupon's 50 yuan worker head. 1980 edition 1 The continuous watermark of Fiona Fang ancient coins on 5 yuan vouchers is on the whole banknote, and there is no fixed position, so it is called full-page watermark. The application of watermarking technology in banknotes has effectively played a role in preventing counterfeit banknotes from being forged.
Compared with ordinary paper, water-printed paper has high fiber density in the dark part and low fiber density in the bright part, and is most clearly recognized by light. Therefore, the real watermark effect can only be obtained when making paper, and it is difficult to forge it. Some counterfeit money makers use stamping, whitewashing or printing to make fake watermarks that look bright and dark. As long as they have a little knowledge of watermarking, it is easy to see through.
The first set of paper for RMB banknotes in China, except for a few large denomination banknotes with ripples, five-pointed stars or English letters, most of them have no watermark. 1953, the second set of RMB began to be printed. Most of the banknotes were copied by the Soviet Union, and three varieties of banknote paper were copied. 1, 2, 5, 1 yuan coupons are full-page water-printed paper with a hollow five-pointed star, 2 yuan, 3 yuan and 5 yuan coupons are full-page watermarks with a solid five-pointed star pattern, and 10 yuan coupons are in Chinese. The quality of banknote paper in this period has been tested and improved to some extent compared with that before the founding of the People's Republic of China. With the development of China's national economy and the improvement of production level, with the approval of the superior, it is decided to develop our own special watermark banknote paper from 1957, which is a brand-new work. The development of watermark banknote paper is a highly technical and artistic work, which has high technical requirements in design, carving, plate making and paper making. In the process of development, experts from Central Academy of Fine Arts and Central Academy of Arts and Crafts were hired as teachers, and the whole process of papermaking was studied, and a large number of domestic and foreign documents were carefully searched. After more than three years of research and repeated experiments, banknote paper, a five-pointed star mixed full-page watermark, was finally trial-produced in the first half of 1960, and banknote paper, a national flag five-pointed star full-page watermark, was successfully trial-produced in the same year. Later, it was successfully developed the following year. In just over three years, * * * has successfully developed more than a dozen banknote watermark papers, which is ready for printing the third set of RMB. The printing of the third set of RMB is in a difficult period of natural disasters, but for the first time, all the new banknotes adopt the high-standard and high-quality watermark banknote paper independently developed by China, thus ending China's long-term dependence on imports from banknote paper.
After the 1960s, especially after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, on the basis of further studying foreign advanced technology, we carried out reform and innovation, which improved the watermarking technology in China. 1987 On April 27th, the fourth set of new RMB was issued one after another, presenting a brand-new look to Chinese people. Except that 1 yuan, 2 yuan and 5 yuan use full-page water-printed paper for ancient coins, 10 yuan, 50 yuan and 100 yuan coupons use fixed water-printed paper with the heads of farmers in northern Shaanxi, steel workers and plastic sculptures beside Mao Zedong, which proves that China's paper-printed paper production has entered the ranks of advanced countries in the world and will play an important role.
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Method for identifying true and false watermarks
Banknote watermarking technology was first applied to bank notes issued by Stockholm Bank in Sweden in 1665. This is an ancient and traditional anti-counterfeiting technology. Long-term practice has proved that, because it is made by a special department for printing money, the technology is complex and it is difficult to copy, so it has a good anti-counterfeiting function. This technology has been widely used in paper money all over the world. Counterfeit banknotes also have imitation fake watermarks, which is very important to identify true and false banknotes.
Watermark is formed in the process of papermaking. When making paper, the density of fibers is increased or decreased according to the designed pattern, so that the thickness of paper varies, showing a multi-level portrait or figure alternating with light and dark, which can be clearly seen under the perspective of sunlight. This is a watermark.
Watermarks can be divided into fixed watermarks, semi-fixed continuous watermarks and full-page watermarks according to different production processes. The fixed watermark has a fixed position on the banknote, accurate shape and rich layers, showing a good anti-counterfeiting effect. Semi-fixed continuous watermark, which is made in a certain part of the banknote, has a fixed width and a continuous repeating length, and can be divided. Full-page watermark, the whole banknote paper has watermark patterns, which are randomly distributed and have no fixed position. The watermarks of counterfeit banknotes are all imitation fake watermarks: fake watermarks imprinted on the surface of paper with a certain grease substance, fake watermarks printed with colorless paint or white ink, fake watermarks printed with two pasted papers, and fake watermarks imprinted with white pasted between two sheets of paper.
How to identify true and false watermarks?
1. Determines whether the watermark pattern is in the normal position. If the positions of fixed watermark patterns are quite different, generally speaking, it is likely to be a fake watermark (there are few real banknotes with large deviation of watermark patterns).
2. The printed or stamped fake watermark (on the surface of banknote paper or two pieces of pasted paper) is exposed to light, and the pattern outline is particularly clear, while the real banknote watermark pattern outline is relatively clear, and the pattern shape is soft and moist. The fake watermark printed on the surface of banknote paper can be seen from the side obliquely facing the light, and the pattern can be clearly seen under the irradiation of purple light, but the real money can't be seen.
3. Portraits with fixed watermarks, real banknotes have a natural appearance, a three-dimensional layering, and a natural transition from black to gray. Fake water printing and dyeing looks dull and unnatural, and some words are not like or vague.
4. The real banknote watermark has two sides, one side is flat, and the other side is slightly raised, which feels like a relief by hand. The fake watermark is flat on both sides, and the fake watermark with paste substance and seal is coated between two thin sheets of paper. Touching the paper by hand also has a sense of relief, and some of them are too embossed, which makes the transparency of the paper in the light perspective watermark part worse and thicker than other parts.