1. Watermark and its function
Banknote paper is a special paper for national currency. Watermark is an important component of banknote paper and one of the main anti-counterfeiting measures for banknotes. Its production is restricted by law in most countries. At the same time, it is a high-precision work of art, a high degree of combination of technology and art.
Watermarks are formed during the papermaking process. They are "sandwiched" into the paper rather than on the surface of the paper. When viewed through the light, you can clearly see graphics, portraits or text with light and dark textures. It is made by changing the density of pulp fibers during the paper production process. There are two forms of watermarks: one is full-page watermark, that is, the watermark pattern is not fixed on the face of the banknote and is scattered in various parts of the banknote paper, like floral cloth; the other is fixed watermark, that is, the watermark pattern is fixed on a certain part of the banknote face. Fixed positions, often with portraits of people or important national symbols as the subject matter.
The main purpose of using watermark paper for banknotes is to prevent counterfeiting. This can be proved from the following story and the development history of watermark production. In 1887, some senior officials in the French government secretly traded medals, and Wilson, the president's son-in-law, became one of the defendants. However, the cunning Wilson forged the document, claiming that it was enough to prove that he had nothing to do with the case. At this time, the court invited technicians from the paper mill to conduct appraisals. Based on the watermark mark on the paper, the technician picked up the certificate provided by Wilson, looked at it in the light and affirmed: This kind of paper was produced in 1885, but the date marked on the certificate was 1884. As a result, Wilson received the punishment he deserved, the entire French government cabinet resigned, and President Grevy was forced to step down. Watermarks were originally created by some Italian papermakers in the 13th century.
In 1281, an Italian papermaker accidentally dropped a piece of copper wire into the paper frame. After the paper was made, he discovered that there were translucent lines on the paper. This discovery inspired papermakers, so they carved various images and patterns on the paper curtains containing paper pulp. Due to the different convex and concave textures of the patterns, the original designed patterns clearly appeared on the paper produced, with concave patterns. Where the pattern is, the paper is a little thicker, and where the pattern protrudes, the paper is a little thinner. This is how watermarked paper is made. The early watermark was in the shape of a cross, with small circles at both ends of the horizontal arms and a large circle in the center. It was the mark of the secret sect of the early Greek church and used it as a method of secret contact. It has been a symbol of religion for a long time. Except for a few papermaking experts, few people know this function of watermark. Later, when banknotes were used in Europe, counterfeit banknotes were discovered, and watermark anti-counterfeiting attracted the attention of mints. In 1666, Sweden's Stockholm Bank was the first to use watermarked paper banknotes. Since then, this method has gradually developed around the world.
Currently, in order to prevent banknotes from being counterfeited, national banks around the world have to make various water prints on banknote paper. According to incomplete statistics, there are approximately tens of thousands of water prints used in the world today. In addition to banknotes, they are also widely used in international documents, product trademarks and various securities.
2. Appreciation of RMB watermarks
There are currently two types of watermarks on banknote paper in my country, namely fixed watermarks and full-page watermarks. The national micro image on the 1953 version of the 10-yuan coupon, the image of Tiananmen on the 1965 version of the 10-yuan coupon, the portrait of a farmer on the 1980 version of the 10-yuan coupon, the portrait of a worker on the 50-yuan coupon, the profile portrait of Mao Zedong on the 100-yuan coupon, 1999 The 100-yuan version of Mao Zedong's front face has a fixed watermark; the 1980 version of 1 to 5 yuan coupons has four continuous watermarks on the square and round ancient coins, which are found on the entire banknote and have no fixed position, so they are called full-page watermarks. The application of watermark technology on banknotes effectively prevents counterfeiting of banknotes.
Compared with normal paper, watermark paper has higher fiber density in dark areas and lower fiber density in bright areas, making it most clearly identifiable through light. Therefore, the real watermark effect can only be obtained when making paper, and it is difficult to forge. Some counterfeit currency makers use means such as stamping, whitening or printing to create a fake watermark that appears to be light or dark. As long as you have a little knowledge of watermarks, it is easy to see through it.
Except for a few large-denomination bills with ripples, five-pointed stars or English letter watermarks on my country's first set of RMB banknotes, most of the bills have no watermarks. In 1953, the second set of RMB began to be printed. Most of the banknote paper was copied by the Soviet Union. Three varieties of banknote paper were copied. The 1 jiao, 2 jiao, 5 jiao and 1 yuan notes were paper with hollow five-pointed stars and full watermarks. The 2 yuan, 3 yuan and 5 yuan coupons have a solid five-pointed star pattern mixed with full-page watermarks, and the 10 yuan coupon has a fixed watermark with the national emblem of the People's Republic of China. The quality of banknote paper during this period has been inspected and has improved to a certain extent compared with before the founding of the People's Republic of China. With the development of my country's national economy and the improvement of production levels, with the approval of superiors, it was decided to develop China's own special watermarked banknote paper starting in 1957. This is a brand-new task. The development of watermarked banknote paper is a highly technical and artistic task. The design, sculpture, plate making, and papermaking all require very high craftsmanship. During the development process, experts from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts were hired as teachers. They also studied the entire papermaking process and carefully searched a large number of domestic and foreign literature. After more than three years of research and repeated tests, we finally finally In the first half of 1960, we successfully trial-produced a five-pointed star cloth currency mixed with a full-page watermark banknote paper. In that year, we successfully trial-produced a national flag five-pointed star full-page watermark banknote paper. Later, we continued to develop high-denomination 10-yuan coupons in the second year. High quality Tiananmen fixed watermark banknote paper. In just over three years, China has successfully developed more than a dozen varieties of banknote watermark paper, preparing for the printing of 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, the new version of banknotes uses self-developed high-standard and high-quality watermark banknote paper. This has ended my country's long-term dependence on imported banknote paper.
After the 1960s, especially after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, we further improved our watermark production technology through reform and innovation based on further learning from foreign advanced technologies. The fourth new version of the RMB, which has been issued successively since April 27, 1987, is presented to the people of our country with a completely new look. In addition to 1 Yuan, 2 Yuan and 5 Yuan, which are the continuous full-page watermark banknotes of the square ancient coins, the 10 Yuan, 50 Yuan and 100 Yuan coupons respectively adopt the difficult portraits of farmers in northern Shaanxi, the portraits of steel-making workers, and the side sculptures of Mao Zedong. The fixed watermark paper with carved heads proves that my country's banknote watermark paper production has moved into the ranks of the world's advanced countries, and will play a major role in ensuring the stability of our country's currency.
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How to identify true and false watermarks
Banknote watermark technology was first used on bank notes issued by the Swedish "Stockholm Bank" in 1665 of. This is an ancient, traditional anti-counterfeiting technology. Long-term practice has proved that because it is produced by a specialized department for printing banknotes, it has a complicated process and is difficult to copy. It has a good anti-counterfeiting function. This technology has been widely used in banknotes in various countries around the world. Counterfeit banknotes also have imitation fake watermarks, which are very important for identifying real and fake banknotes.
Watermarks are formed during the papermaking process. During papermaking, the density of fibers is increased or decreased according to the designed pattern, making the paper different in thickness, showing multi-layered portraits or graphics of light and dark, and clear perspective in the light. As you can see, this is the watermark.
Watermarks are 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, an accurate shape, and rich layers, showing a good anti-counterfeiting effect. Semi-fixed continuous watermark is made on a certain part of the banknote. The width is fixed, the length is continuous, repeated, and can be divided. There is a full-page watermark, and there are watermark patterns on the entire banknote. The distribution is random and there is no fixed position. The watermarks on counterfeit banknotes are all imitation fake watermarks: a stamp coated with a certain greasy substance is stamped on the surface of the paper, a fake watermark is printed with colorless paint or white ink, and some are printed on the inside of two pasted papers. There are many kinds of fake watermarks, such as fake watermarks in which white paste is applied on the sandwich between two pieces of paper and stamped.
How to identify true and false watermarks?
1. Determine whether the watermark pattern is in the normal position. If the position of the fixed watermark pattern is greatly different, generally speaking, it is likely to be a fake watermark (there are very few real banknotes with large deviations in the watermark pattern).
2. The printed or stamped fake watermark (on the surface of the banknote paper or inside the two pasted papers), the outline of the pattern is particularly clear when viewed through light, while the outline of the watermark pattern on the real banknote is all Relatively clear, the pattern is soft and smooth. The fake watermark printed on the surface of the banknote paper can be seen from the side facing the light at an angle. The pattern is clearly visible under the illumination of a purple light, but the real banknote cannot be seen.
3. For portraits with fixed watermarks, genuine banknotes have a natural look, three-dimensional layers, and natural transitions between black, gray, and white. Fake watermarks have a dull and unnatural look, and some characters are unresembling or blurry.
4. There are two sides of the watermark on genuine banknotes. One side is relatively flat, and the other side is slightly convex. It feels embossed when touched by hand. Both sides of the fake watermark are flat. A paste substance is applied in the middle of two pieces of tissue paper and the fake watermark is stamped. The paper also feels embossed when touched by hand, and some are too embossed. The transparency of the watermarked part of the paper is measured by light perspective. Very poor, and thicker than other parts.