Where is the RMB printed? Is there a printing place all over the country?

In the public's impression, the banknote printing factory is a very mysterious enterprise. First of all, people are interested in how to manage such an enterprise that deals with money all day. The public is also very interested in the process of printing money, and wants to know how the banknote printing workers turn a small piece of white paper into "money" through step-by-step work.

China is a big country in printing money, and the printing level and technical content of RMB have reached the advanced level of printing technology in the world. China's paper money production and circulation are among the best in the world.

There are a large number of banknotes in circulation in China, and the anti-counterfeiting task of banknotes is also very arduous. Therefore, it is very necessary to let the public know about the anti-counterfeiting knowledge of RMB. Let the public know something about the production process of RMB, which will also be of great help to the public in identifying counterfeit money. It is for this reason that when the new edition of RMB 20 was issued, we asked the Information Office of the General Office of the People's Bank of China to interview the banknote printing factory, and they agreed.

We drove to Shijiazhuang to interview Shijiazhuang Banknote Printing Factory.

Interestingly, although the economic benefits of Shijiazhuang banknote printing factory are among the best in the local area, there is not even a brand at the entrance of the banknote printing factory. Asked why the secretary of the Party Committee of the factory didn't put up a sign, he said, "Don't make public."

The first thing we visited was the paper selection department. We entered the gate and there was a closed glass door. Several uniformed security guards asked us to register, and then we stored our bags. Everything was ready, and the accompanying factory cadres took out a magnetic card and inserted it into the box at the door. The security door was opened. The job of the paper selection department is to check the quality of banknote paper. Banknote paper is a special paper specially developed for printing money.

Photo: Nanchang Banknote Printing Factory

What makes banknote paper special is that it has many new high-tech contents, such as safety thread, colored red and blue fibers, in addition to physical and chemical properties such as wear resistance, folding resistance, acid resistance and alkali resistance. What is also unique is that it is covered with watermark patterns for anti-counterfeiting, and the 20 yuan banknote paper is a fixed flower pattern. The workers check the quality of the paper one by one on the light box. Because the watermark has a direction problem, each piece of paper should be arranged according to the direction of the watermark pattern, and the edge should be punched and positioned with a punching machine. There must be no mistakes in this link, otherwise the printed banknotes will have anti-watermarking. This kind of paper money is a waste in the banknote printing factory, but in case it enters the market, it will become a valuable "treasure" in the hands of coin lovers. It is valuable because the quality inspection of the banknote printing factory is strict, which makes it very unlikely that this kind of waste will flow to the market.

Next, we came to the printing workshop, and several super gravure presses were running at high speed. Gravure printing was the difference between printing money at that time and other printing in society, because the gravure printing plate was copied according to the steel plate carved by the steel plate engraver of the banknote printing factory, and the part with lines on it was concave. When printing, the ink in the pattern is filled. When printed on paper, the ink in the pattern is stacked in three dimensions, so it is difficult for counterfeiters to copy it because it is very common in society. As long as the public can understand this and touch it with their hands when using banknotes, most counterfeit banknotes can be identified.

There happened to be a machine trying to print in the printing workshop. Anyone who knows a little about printing knows that at the beginning of printing, it always takes some trial printing before it can be adjusted to the best state. We found that the printing factory piled up some waste products from trial printing in a corner. I picked up one and looked at it carefully. I found it was made of yellow paper, not banknote paper. I asked, "Why not try printing in banknote paper?" The staff replied: "This is not possible, because the quantity of each banknote is strictly controlled, and there is no shortage of one." . If there are waste products, even a batch, they should be registered and audited, and there are a series of procedures. "

In the management of the banknote printing factory, the most distinctive feature is digital management, that is, from paper delivery to finished product sealing and warehousing, every link should be counted, and "how much is returned". There is a saying here, which is called "we must count what we handle". Digital management is an effective management method. But after all, this is an external management constraint, so that people who face thousands of bills every day do not have wild dreams, and more importantly, it is an "internal moral constraint."

Xi' an banknote printing factory

A worker who was stacking 20 yuan said, "In my eyes, money is not money. They are like products in the hands of workers in other industries. For example, workers in Haier Washing Machine Factory look at their own washing machines, and even farmers look at Chinese cabbage and tomatoes in the fields. I can't relate the money in my hand to the goods in the mall. I dare not think how many things this money can buy, such as buying a mobile phone and a car ... "There is only one thought in my heart: work hard and don't make mistakes. "

As soon as I walked into the lobby of the seal inspection workshop, my first feeling was that it was very similar to the reading room of a university library. The semi-closed workstations were neatly arranged, and there were stacks of new 20 yuan in the hands and desks of quality inspection women workers. Bright lights poured down like mercury, and everyone's desk lamp was still on. The light is so important because these quality inspectors have to check the quality of each RMB under the light, such as whether the number is printed wrongly, whether the color is uniform, whether the watermark is inverted ... I asked a female worker, "How many do you want to see a day?" She replied, "Tens of thousands."

This kind of quality inspection work is very hard and monotonous. Imagine staring at the same picture every hour, every day, every month and every year. This is a very difficult thing.

I found that in the banknote printing factory, the printing inspection workshop is the department with the largest number of people in the whole factory. Rmb is indeed a special product, and its quality is related to the reputation of the country. In China's banknote printing industry, RMB is called "China's business card". The country's business card is not allowed to make mistakes.

In the sealing workshop, checking the quality of RMB is divided into two steps. The first step is to check the large sheets, that is, to check the large sheets printed in RMB with 24 sheets from the printing machine. At this time, the quality inspection is mainly to check whether there are quality problems, such as whether the color is accurate or not ... In a spacious hall, there is a thick stack of RMB on the workbench in front of dozens of female workers.

The second set of RMB Wuyuan positive

After the big sheet is checked, the next process is cutting, that is, cutting out 24 RMB sheets on the big sheet and turning them into RMB of the same size as we usually use. The next step is to check Xiao Zhang's RMB, and check Xiao Zhang's RMB. More people are needed. And more difficult.

We left Shijiazhuang in the evening, and our every move in Shijiazhuang banknote printing factory was left in the computer photography system. By the way, I forgot to introduce one of the security measures of the banknote printing factory, that is, every workshop has installed a 24-hour uninterrupted photography system, and what happens at any time and any place can be retrieved from computer records for reference.

First, the process of paper money printing

Generally speaking, the printing of paper money can be divided into four processes: research, plate making, printing and sorting.

(1) research process: focus on the anti-counterfeiting performance and artistry of paper money, and design paper money drawings according to the requirements of national paper money issuing institutions.

(2) Plate-making process: Plate-making plays a very important role in the anti-counterfeiting of banknotes, and an important content of anti-counterfeiting in banknote printing technology is plate-making. The plate making of paper money can basically be divided into two types: manual carving and machine carving. Paper currency plate making is designed for the main picture, pattern, decoration, lines and characters in the manuscript. Master prints such as figures and landscapes on paper money are all carved into original models by hand, while figures, lines and geometric patterns are carved by machines and made into masters through photography. After proofing the original horizontal version and master, it needs to be audited by relevant departments before full-page printing can be carried out.

(3) Printing technology: This involves the collection and conditioning of printing plates, paper, ink and printing machines. Paper money is printed by a special printing machine, and paper money and ink are secretly manufactured by the relevant departments licensed by the state to strengthen the anti-counterfeiting function of paper money.

(4) Finishing process: After printing paper money, it must go through a series of work to ensure that it is correct before it can be issued and circulated. The work at this stage mainly includes: leak detection, number printing, cutting, number printing, replacement of bad tickets, quantity statistics, packaging and warehousing.

Generally speaking, the printing process of paper money is basically carried out according to the following procedures: designing paper money map → making engraving → making printing plate → offset printing → gravure printing → printing quantity → checking large sheets → cutting them into sheets → checking the number of sheets → counting the number → packaging and putting them in boxes → warehousing.

The third set of RMB is one yuan on the back.

Second, the printing method of paper money

Paper money is usually printed by lithography, gravure printing, letterpress printing and mixed printing.

(1) Lithography: Lithography is commonly known as offset printing. Lithographic printing uses the principles of oiliness and water phase repulsion of ink to transfer the ink pattern part to the paper surface with appropriate pressure through the lipophilic pattern part and the oil-resistant hydrophilic blank part. The characteristic of lithography is that the pattern image and the printing plate are almost on the same plane, that is, the printed image is flat on the surface of the printing plate. Lithographic printing includes overprinting, overprinting, color separation, double-sided printing, pattern printing and so on. Lithography is mainly used for large-area shading patterns or complex thin line patterns on the background of banknotes. For example, in 24 years, the Printing Bureau of the Ministry of Finance printed the proofs with lithography.

(2) Gravure printing: Gravure printing is carried out by printing a pattern image with ink below the printing plate plane. When printing, the sinking ink is transferred to the surface of the paper, and the inked pattern image is placed on the paper in a three-dimensional way. The main patterns on paper money are hand-carved, and the lines with different thicknesses are carefully carved by sculptors, which is extremely difficult to forge. Therefore, intaglio engraving printing has strong anti-counterfeiting. The first set of engraved gravure banknotes in China was the Qing Bank Exchange Voucher printed by the Qing Branch Banknote Printing Bureau 19 10. The engraving was partly completed by the Qing government, which hired an American sculptor Hai Qu. Engraving intaglio is mainly used for the main patterns of paper money. Many countries in the world also prefer to print the main picture of banknotes with engraving gravure. The proverb "There is no coin without dent" is very popular in the world.

(3) Relief printing: Relief printing is the oldest printing method. It is a printing method in which the raised pattern printed on the printing plate plane is inked, and then pressure is applied to transfer it to paper. Letterpress printing is mostly used to print the seal, number and signature of paper money.

(4) Mixed printing: The combination of two or more printing methods can be called mixed printing. Modern paper money adopts mixed printing method to strengthen the anti-counterfeiting effect of paper money. Mixed printing includes: relief printing and lithography, intaglio printing and relief printing, intaglio printing and lithography, lithography, intaglio printing and relief printing, etc.

The second set of RMB two yuan front

Third, printed products.

I believe that collectors will pay attention to products in the process of printing banknotes, scrambling to collect such things for fun. Indeed, in the process of printing paper money, there will be some "products" at each stage, and there are still quite a few of these products. We are concerned about the hand-drawn drawings or design drawings of banknotes; Master sample extension, printing plate sample extension, color sample, etc. In plate making; In the process of printing, there will be test tickets, unfinished tickets, bad tickets and so on. In the stage of sorting banknotes, there will be variant tickets, and there will be large-scale full-sheet, continuous-sheet, or single-sheet proofs and official tickets on file.

(1) banknote design drawing

The paper money designer's paper money drawings are either hand-painted, photographed, cut or combined with various artistic techniques. These drawings are printed and distributed with the permission of the relevant departments, and are called original banknotes.

(2) main sample expansion

The engraver carved the original paper money pattern by hand on a special multi-metal plate. This kind of metal plate engraved with banknote design pattern is the so-called engraving master, usually steel plate or copper plate. Master rubbings refer to the proofs printed by the master, and black is the most common, also known as black samples.

(3) Plate extension

A printing plate made by copying the master sample that meets the corresponding standard. The sample of this printing plate rubbing is a printing plate rubbing. For example, in the third year of the Republic of China, the printing plate of Bank of Communications was 10 yuan.

The third set of RMB round front

(4) color samples

A sample formed by rubbing various colors of ink on the completed banknote master is a color sample. Specially provided for the preferred use of banknote issuers. For example, in 25 years of the Republic of China, the central bank's fiat money 10 yuan, in 24 years of the Republic of China, Bank of China's Shandong Edition 10 yuan, Bank of Communications 13 yuan, and Yunnan Gobi Railway Bank 10 yuan.

(5) Test ticket

In the process of printing money, debugging printing is the first process. Considering that its printing is highly confidential and meticulous, the relevant departments have formulated a strict management system in order to effectively grasp the selection and quantity of paper. And some paper money products that did not completely appear during the trial operation are called trial tickets. According to the regulations, in principle, examination tickets should be destroyed in a unified and centralized manner. However, some test tickets still flow out of the market due to human factors and are obtained by some collectors through various channels.

(6) Incomplete tickets

Incomplete ticket refers to the part of paper money that exceeds the specified printing amount in the printing process, without printing number and signature. Most of the unfinished tickets were destroyed, leaving only a small part on file for future reference.

(7) evidence

Sample sheets are also called sample tickets, sample volumes and reference books. Sample refers to the paper money that has no circulation value and is provided by the issuer to the relevant banks or people to distinguish between true and false. Each kind of paper money has a corresponding sample.

(8) Banknote sample book: For business transactions, the bank issuing banknotes will bind the full set of banknotes or leaflets issued by it into a booklet, and attach relevant explanatory text to submit it to the banks associated with it for reference and identification.

(9) Official notes: paper money officially circulated in the market through legal channels with the approval of relevant institutions.

(10) Sheet-by-sheet: Paper money is converted from the master to the printing plate. In a printing plate, it is often copied into different banknotes to form a large plate. According to the capacity of the printing machine, various specifications are made, such as 1X4(4 sheets), 2X3(6 sheets), 3X3(9 sheets), 2X, etc.

(10), 3X5( 15), 4X4( 16), 4X5(20) and so on.

A full-page printed banknote is a full-page banknote. This kind of large paper money is usually printed with the word "proof", because the number of this kind of paper money is very small, so it is unanimously considered by collectors as a rare collection treasure. Even the ticket is basically divided into the following categories:

Double notes: two kinds of uncut joint notes, including upper and lower notes and left and right notes, the former is more and the latter is less.

Triple banknote: three uncut banknotes connected up and down.

Square paper money: uncut paper money with a square structure.

Four bills: four uncut bills connected up and down.

Full-page banknote: a banknote printed with a full page without cutting.

(1 1) Banknote printing: The name, face value, number or printing of the bank, and the corresponding marks such as cross lines and color tickets are sometimes printed on the periphery and upper part of proofs and mother rubbings. This kind of money is printing money. Printed banknotes have less outflow and high collection value.

(12) Wrong currency: refers to the currency notes with incorrect graphics and text caused by negligence in design. For example, a 7-year China Bank Exchange Certificate.

(13) Variant ticket: paper money with errors during printing, stamping and page cutting. This variant ticket has the following types:

A. reverse printing: the pattern on the front and back of a banknote, with one or both sides inverted. For example, in 12, the Bank of Henan Province pawned 100 pieces of ten coppers.

B. Missing printing: In the process of printing patterns, characters or colors, paper money is completely or partially missing printing due to negligence or some reason, which can be divided into missing printing pictures, characters and colors.

C. Overprinting: that is, printing patterns or characters of banknotes repeatedly to make them appear the same ghost.

D. Folding: When printing, a corner of the front or back of the banknote is printed on the back, which is caused by uneven folding of the paper.

E. Sticking: In the printing process, the paper money with wet ink on the last paper money is stuck on the previous paper money to produce inverted light-colored pictures and texts. This situation is called paper money sticking.

F blanking: in the printing process, some blanks appear due to the invasion of foreign objects. The more spaces, the more obvious and the more precious.

G. Folding: The paper is folded because it is placed unevenly when entering the printing machine, so that after printing, the part inside the crease is blank and long after opening, which is called folding.

H. word rolling: due to the rotation failure of the digital machine, the number of banknotes is incomplete.

1. Wrong number and wrong word track: refers to the left and right or upper and lower word tracks or numbers of the same banknote are different.

J. Missing cover: All or part of the banknote to be stamped is missing cover, including signature, seal or place name.

K. Inverted cover: stamped signature, place name, seal, logo, etc. Inconsistent with the original banknote pattern sequence.

Length cover: the paper money is printed with pictures and texts, which can be printed repeatedly.

Fukumimi: Ears or butterflies appear in one or more corners of some paper money, which is called the Fukumimi of paper money.

Cutting displacement: due to improper cutting, the top, bottom, left and right edges of the banknote are uneven, and the overall pattern is not in the center of the banknote. The obvious dislocation is displacement.

O. Watermark variation: refers to the phenomenon that a watermark is inverted or reversed, or a vertical watermark becomes a horizontal watermark.

Other variants of page (abbreviation of page): this situation includes broken paper money, improper use of paper, wrong color printing, ink stains or insufficient ink, etc.

Brief introduction to the anti-counterfeiting features of 100 RMB in circulation and RMB in 50 yuan.

● 1. Watermark

When the banknote is exposed to light, we can see the fixed watermark with rich layers, strong three-dimensional effect and embossed three-dimensional effect.

●2. Engraving gravure printing

It is characterized by rich image layers, rich colors, strong three-dimensional sense and smooth touch.

●3. Multicolor wiring pattern

The lines on the characteristic pattern are composed of various colors, and there is no missing line or dislocation at the joint of the lines.

●4. Magnetic imprint

A special magnetic detector will show a magnetic signal in this part.

●5 colorless fluorescent patterns

Its characteristic is that it can display yellow-green characters under the irradiation of ultraviolet lamp with a certain wavelength.

6. Safety line

Its characteristic is that when the banknote is exposed to light, regular metal wires with a certain width can be seen.

●7. Different version numbers.

The words "1980" are printed on the lower part of the back of the 80 version of the 100-yuan coupon and the 5-yuan coupon.

The words "1990" are printed on the lower part of the back of the 90-edition hundred-dollar coupon and five-dollar coupon.