Selected currency notes
In the Song Dynasty, officials in charge of printing money found that Sichuan paper was bright and durable, and the process was complicated, so it was generally difficult to forge it. As a result, Sichuan paper became a special paper for printing money, and people were forbidden to buy it. Ming Dynasty Hongwu period issued "Daming Treasure Banknote" is made of mulberry paper.
Print mode
The patterns printed on ancient paper money are very complex and fine, mostly hand-carved, including the Eight Immortals, Twenty-four Filial Pieties, flowers and plants, mountain scenery, or famous paintings.
? Change the ticket board frequently.
In ancient times, the production of counterfeit banknotes was rampant, and the government had to change the ticket version. At first, American bills were printed in woodcut, and later they were changed into copper plates. After one year's use, the banknote version will be replaced by a new version, and the old version will be destroyed.
? Multicolor overprint
In addition to currency paper and ticket boards, the government has also made great efforts in printing colors to achieve anti-counterfeiting. For the sake of safety and anti-counterfeiting, designs and official seals have been overprinted in red, blue and black, which is about the beginning of two-color and multi-color overprinting.
? Text anti-counterfeiting
An obvious feature of ancient paper money is that many irrelevant words were printed on it, all of which were written by emperors or calligraphers at that time, some of which were printed with criminal law, and some were printed with people's names. If there are too many words printed, it will be difficult to forge them.
Multiple imprints
Ancient paper money, especially the earliest paper money issued by the people, must be approved by the government in the process of printing and using, that is, the official will record the amount of money received on the paper money and use it as cash after signing it. In circulation, the imperial court sent seals to the provinces, the provinces sent seals to the governments, the governments sent seals to the counties, the counties sent seals to the banks, and finally the banks sent seals to the people. This was an effective anti-counterfeiting seal measure at that time.
Cryptography technology
In Qing Dynasty, Shanxi merchants used encryption technology to prevent counterfeiting. For example, Rishengchang Bank changed 300 sets of encryption from 1826 to 192 1 in 1995.
Anti-counterfeiting seal
Shanxi merchants also designed micro-carved seals for anti-counterfeiting. The anti-counterfeiting function of this micro-imprint stamp belongs to micro-imprint anti-counterfeiting. The content of the micro sculpture is a complete article of Wang Xizhi's Preface to Lanting, with 340 to 50 words. The carving is very fine and requires a high level of carving.
? Original watermarking technology
In the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi merchants even began to use watermarking technology to ensure the security of bills of exchange. The draft number has been strictly managed, and no used draft has been lost. Today, people can only see this original watermark from their own printed money tickets.
Establishment of civil banknote discriminator
Local governments have set up paper money discriminators in money bureaus to help people distinguish the authenticity of paper money, popularize relevant knowledge and improve people's ability to distinguish authenticity. After screening, they charge a handling fee, usually two yuan, up to six yuan. Under the historical background of relatively backward economy and culture in ancient China, this is a very effective method.
In addition to technical anti-counterfeiting, laws were also promulgated to severely punish those who made counterfeit banknotes. No matter in the Song and Yuan Dynasties or in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the criminal acts of making counterfeit banknotes were severely punished.