Does Duplicating Engraving Plates lead to Diminished Sharpness in Notes

[DaMo-migration]

BACKGROUND: During most of the 19th century and much of the 20th, banknotes were printed from plates created by Siderography. Simplified, this involves these processes: 1) engrave a plate, 2) harden that plate (with temperature/quenching), 3) Press an un-hardened (softer) steel plate into the First Plate, so that the steel gets pressed into the Grooves, thereby creating an Embossed version, 4) harden the Embossed version and 5) Press the hardened Embossed Version into (multiple) new un-hardened steel plates to create De-Bossed images, then Harden the De-Bossed versions. Step 5 can be performed many times (don't know how many).

 

HERE's the QUESTION: It would seem that using an Embossed Roller to make new plates would entail wear-and-tear on the Embossed Roller. To me, that suggests that the First Plate Created for a New Note would be the SHARPEST version, with the clearest and crispest lines printed. Is that true? If so, do First-Plate PRINTED Notes earn a premium price in the marketplace because their Embossing is nicer, their printing finer & sharper?

[Jennifer F.]

Good afternoon,

 

Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, PMG does not provide values for the notes that we grade and encapsulate so I could not really tell you if those notes would bring a higher price. You may want to post your question on the regular Paper Money board and get the opinion of some other collectors/dealers.

 

If you have any other questions, please let us know. You can reach PMG customer service at service@pmgnotes.com

 

Thank you,

[DaMo-migration]

I'm not asking for any valuations. My question is whether the notes printed from the FIRST PLATE struck via Siderography are SHARPER than notes printed from subsequent plates. Does the reproduction of multiple PLATES from a single hardened MASTER ROLLER diminish as successive plates are made from it?

[Steve in Tampa]

I would guess that there is insignificant diminishing if any. The Bureau has been doing this a long time and I believe they have the process pretty much perfected.