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Exceptional faulty notes
Eurobills may not yet be the stuff of dreams for the average numismatist, but allow me to surprise and even amaze them with the following exceptional coins. These major faults have slipped through the cracks of the successive technical and human controls carried out by certain European printers.
These jewels, whose spectacular appearance cannot escape anyone, are mainly from the very first print runs, at a time when controls were apparently not yet optimal.
A distinction needs to be made between the different types. As a reminder, the final appearance of a Eurobill is the result of three printing methods: intaglio, offset and letterpress.
Major faults have the serious handicap of being deprived of one of these three printing modes. The consequence of such error(s) often produces a 'monster', which the reader can get an idea of from the following images. These mistakes are very spectacular and also very rare. These exceptional banknotes were discovered between 2003 and 2005.
In some cases, only one copy is known to exist! More surprisingly, they are often in new or near-new condition. We can assume that they were discovered in a bundle of new banknotes and immediately put aside by the lucky discoverers. It is hard to imagine that these notes could have been circulated with such defects.
It is of course surprising that a few "dud" banknotes should have appeared in circulation despite the draconian electronic and human controls carried out by the ECB-approved printing works.
"To err is human" and, let's repeat it, the central bank's demand for "zero default" was perhaps less assertive in the first issues. Nevertheless, the probability of discovering one of these "monsters" is infinitesimal.
As far as the €5 uniface is concerned, which is one of the jewels in the crown of the flawed eurobills, I have so far only identified nine known coins (all N/F002) out of nine billion printed denominations of this face value, all printers taken into account...
- PRINTING WITH OPPOSITE WATERMARK
This note, reported by Francesco Spinelli, was initially thought to be a forgery because of the apparent absence of the watermark and barcode normally found on the left-hand side of the obverse. However, the long and short codes reported (S04102714861 and J002G2 respectively) are correct. When I received the note, I was surprised to discover that the watermark was indeed present, but on the right-hand side of the note and inverted!
Examination was made all the more delicate by the fact that the holographic patch almost completely covers the portal watermark. So far, we know of only one such example.
This error occurs when the sheet to be printed is positioned the wrong way round before printing starts.
Major faults have the serious handicap of being deprived of one of these three printing modes. The consequence of such error(s) often produces a 'monster', which the reader can get an idea of from the following images. These mistakes are very spectacular and also very rare. These exceptional banknotes were discovered between 2003 and 2005.
In some cases, only one copy is known to exist! More surprisingly, they are often in new or near-new condition. We can assume that they were discovered in a bundle of new banknotes and immediately put aside by the lucky discoverers. It is hard to imagine that these notes could have been circulated with such defects.
Rarity : RRRR
2. NO INTAGLIO PRINTING
To date, three nominal values have been identified with this defect. These are €5, €10 and €50.
The obverse of the banknote is unrecognisable in all three cases, as all the relief printing is missing. With a "normal" banknote in hand, it is easy, by comparison, to identify all the motifs printed by the intaglio process (the embossed face value, the architectural motif and the ECB initials).
Two different sources are known for the €5, one French and one Spanish! Only one example with the country letter U is known at present. It was offered for sale on Ebay. Although we cannot be certain of the exact outcome of the sale, the price reached was in excess of 600 euros. The banknote appeared to be in very good condition (SPL appearance).
The copy shown in photo 1 is "Spanish". It is perfectly new. It has the short code M002B4. On the reverse, the long code is V02528012299, and it appears that several of these were found in a bundle. However, the number of copies in circulation is unknown. The price recorded at two numismatic fairs ranged from 800 to 1,200 euros.
The €10 note comes from the collection of Willy Schneider, a great lover of flawed euro notes. The absence of intaglio printing is spectacular, as only the European flag and the two orange-red stars stand out against the pastel background. The short code is N001F1.
Insiders will have realised that this is a Greek banknote. As on the €5, the embossed face value, the portal and the ECB acronyms are missing. On the reverse, this banknote has the following long code: Y00211495942. This is the only example known to us. It is to be hoped that this nomenclature will contribute to the discovery of other "phenomena", for the benefit of knowledge in general and for the pleasure of collectors who love wrong-doing in particular.
3. NO OFFSET PRINTING
To date, three nominal values have been identified with this defect. These are €5, €10 and €50.
The obverse of the banknote is unrecognisable in all three cases, as all the relief printing is missing. With a "normal" banknote in hand, it is easy, by comparison, to identify all the motifs printed by the intaglio process (the embossed face value, the architectural motif and the ECB initials).
Rarity : RRRR
4. ABSENCE OF TYPOGRAPHY
The employees of the Ministry of Finance were not expecting to receive such unusual presents in December 2005... An article in 'Correre della Sera', published on 29 December, caused quite a stir in Italian numismatic circles. It stated that employees of the above-mentioned ministry had received €100 banknotes WITHOUT serial numbers directly from the Bank of Italy, and were shocked, immediately thinking they were counterfeits!
It seems that these T001 notes, which were therefore printed in Belgium, had been sent to various national banks as samples during the colour development process. After examination and advice, they should have been returned to the Bank of Belgium.
The uproar and scandal caused by the distribution of these 'mute' banknotes led the Italian authorities to systematically collect them. Some of them seem to have circulated (one of them was found in Hungary!), and some have found their way into collectors' albums...
Rarity : RR
5. REVERSE INTAGLIO
We know of an improbable Greek banknote with the long code Y04978243702 on a flawless reverse side, but with the intaglio printing on the front side upside down! The face value in relief, the portal and the ECB acronyms are all upside down... The short code is totally illegible and therefore unknown. It's an exceptional feature that I've never come across before! However, this 'mute' short code can be found thanks to the control number shown above, which must be N002C2 (the first five digits indicate the position of the banknote on the sheet)!
This defect is due to a sheet that has already been offset printed and presented upside down before being intaglio printed!
Rarity : RRRR
6. INVERTED TYPE
This banknote was found by an employee of a German savings bank! While the obverse of the banknote (short code: N002E4) might at first sight suggest a very defective cut, the reverse contained a unique error, namely the inversion of the typographical printing (long code: Y05436866611)! This defect can only be found on banknotes from sheet-fed machines, whereas it is impossible with a continuous-feed machine, because it prints on a rotary press.
Rarity : RRRR
7. PARTIAL SHIFT OF OFFSET PRINTING FROM RECTO TO VERSO
In addition to its astonishing obverse, this half-printed banknote is "mute", as it has neither a short code nor the signature of the President of the ECB! The reason for this exceptional fault is to be found on the reverse. The left edge of the banknote had to be folded before offset printing. This resulted in the short code (J005A1) and Wim Duisenberg's signature being moved from the front to the back. The final result is exceptional. It is the only banknote known to feature its entire identity, i.e. the short code and the long code (S06201469186), on the same side!
Rarity : RRRR
8. EXCEPTIONAL DEFAULTED NOTES
In the sheet-fed printing system, it can happen that the sheet to be printed folds unintentionally during printing. This incident may not be detected by the machine operator.
This can affect some edge-of-sheet banknotes. In extreme cases, this can result in the print (offset or letterpress, for example) moving from the reverse to the obverse of the banknote or vice versa.
In the case of the €5 and €100 notes shown here, the paper folded after the offset and intaglio printing, but before the letterpress printing. The reverse side has only one long code at the top right. The other long code was also printed on the reverse, but as the banknote paper was folded, it ended up on the obverse, in the paper appendix at the bottom right. It was only when the bundle was unfolded that a lucky finder was able to appreciate the extent of the damage...
Rarity : RRR
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