PCGS Banknote

Error Designations

In the process of printing banknotes, various errors are known to occur that sometimes escape the quality check processes at the printing facilities.

Below are a few of the many different types of errors known to exist.

Note: With few exceptions, we tend to holder error banknotes with the error facing forward. In the case of a banknote having errors on both sides, we would go with the side that is the more dramatic of the two.

Alignment Errors:

When the face, back, or overprint are out of alignment by a decent amount, we will term them a “Misalignment Error.” Occasionally we will use the term “Minor Misalignment Error” if appropriate.

Note: Slight misalignments are considered “within tolerance” and would not qualify as an error.

Missing Prints:

If the face, back, or overprint are missing entirely, we will term them a “Missing Printing Error.” If there are remnants of ink remaining, then it will be called an “Insufficient Inking Error.”

Fold Errors:

In the process of printing banknotes, the sheets are moved around with different mechanisms and on occasion edges get caught up and fold over, resulting in errors before, after, or in between various printing processes.

On occasion the paper will become wrinkled to the point that it folds over on itself prior to the printing process. When pulled apart this results in a void, these will be termed a “Gutter Fold Error.”

Sometimes the fold will occur before a face, back, or overprinting, resulting in the print occurring on the folded piece. This is termed a “Printed Foldover Error.”

Extra Prints:

When the printing cylinders make high-pressure contact with each other without a sheet of paper present, wet ink from the design transfers onto the impression cylinder. As the next sheets are fed through, they are printed with this additional wet ink of the opposing side’s design. These are termed an “Offset Printing Error” and can be “Partial” or “Full.” If the additional printing is of the face printed on the back, we term it “Face to Back” and vice versa.

Occasionally a sheet of banknotes will be fed through the machine a second time by accident wherein another impression of the face, back, or overprint occurs. These are termed a “Doubled Print Error.”