Error bank notes

 

 

This page is dedicated to error polymer bank notes. Errors occur for various reasons during the manufacturing stages of bank notes. Such reasons include ink starvation, spilled ink, incorrectly positioned sheet, folded sheet, joined sheets, alien material, machinery failure, and others. These and other reasons can appear simultaneuosly on the same bank note. Error bank notes are shown below and are grouped into several categories. Please note that the categories are discretionary (e.g., incorrectly positioned serial number might be placed under sheeting errors or serial numbering errors). Errors on Tyvek® and hybrid bank notes are shown separately at the end. See also the Warning page for the description of fraudulent imitations of error bank notes.

 

Intaglio errors

 

Australia S5R1: intaglio ink spillage on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Brazil S1R1: intaglio printing missing on reverse. Scans: front, back.

Brazil S1R2: intaglio print missing on obverse. Scans front, back.

Brazil S1R2: double intaglio print on obverse. Scans front, back.

Northern Ireland (UK) S1R1: intaglio printing missing on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Papua New Guinea S1R1: intaglio printing shift on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Vietnam S2R1: missing ink on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Vietnam S3R1: missing ink on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Vietnam S4R2: intaglio ink spillage on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Vietnam S4R2: intaglio ink saturation on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Vietnam S5R3: missing OVI on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Vietnam S6R1: partial intaglio ink starvation at upper right on obverse. Scans: front, back.

 

Multiple errors

 

Singapore S1R2: serial numbers missing and OVD missing. Scans: front, back.

 

Offset / lithography errors

 

Brazil S1R2: portion of offset printing missing on reverse. Scans: front, back.

Vietnam S6R1: red offset ink starvation. Scans: front, back.

 

Processing errors

 

New Zealand S4R1: a sheet folded and ran through one of the machines, which created a smudged intaglio ink line over the portrait. Scans: front, back.

Northern Ireland (UK) S1R1: intaglio printing smudge line on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Northern Ireland (UK) S1R1: shallow cut line line on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Vietnam S4R1: intaglio ink line over the portrait. Scans: front, back.

 

Serial numbering errors

 

Australia S2R1: greenish serial number (instead of black). Scans: front, back.

Australia S2R2: greenish serial number (instead of black). Scans: front, back.

Brazil S1R2: serial number missing. Scans: front, back.

Indonesia S2R1: serial numbering ink and intaglio ink starvation at reverse upper right. Scans: front,  back.

Northern Ireland (UK) S1R2: top serial number shifted to the left. Scans: front, back.

Northern Ireland (UK) S1R2: serial number ink starvation. Scans: front, back.

New Zealand S1R1: mismatched serial numbers (2 digits). Scans: front, back.

Papua New Guinea S1R1: greenish serial number (instead of black). Scans: front, back.

Papua New Guinea S2R1: part of serial number imprinted additionally on obverse. Scans: front, back.

Romania S1R1: serial number ink starvation. Scans: front, back.

Samoa S1R1: serial number missing (with selvedge; ex-sheet). Scans: front, back.

Samoa S1R1: serial number shifted to the right (with selvedge; ex-sheet). Scans: front, back.

Sri Lanka S1R1: orange serial numbers (instead of red). Scans: front, back. This note has been issued in a folder.

Thailand S2R1: mismatched serial numbers (1 digit). Scans: front, back.

Thailand S3R2: mismatched serial numbers (1 digit). Scans: front, back.

Zambia S1R2: misaligned serial numbers. Scans: front, back.

 

Sheeting / cutting errors

 

Indonesia S1R1: misaligned sheet at intaglio printing on obverse resulted in this 'miscut' note. Scans: front, back.

Thailand S1R2: miscut note. Scans: front, back.

Zambia S1Z3: bank note size 141.5 mm instead of 140 mm. Scans: front, back.

 

Errors on Tyvek® bank notes

 

Costa Rica S1R1: underprint missing on reverse. Scans: front,  back.

Haiti S4R1: misaligned sheet resulted in incorrectly centered intaglio printing on reverse. Scans: front,  back.

 

Errors on hybrid bank notes

 

Fiji S1R1: right serial number printed too low (over intaglio). Scans: front,  back.