Banknote Guilloche vs Intaglio

紙幣のギヨシェ / 凹版印刷

Banknote Guilloche comes from Public Design and Intaglio from Intaglio Printing. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.

Banknote Guilloche

Banknote Guilloche — 米国 教育シリーズ2ドル 1896 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainBanknote Guilloche — 教育シリーズ1ドル 1896 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainBanknote Guilloche — 旧5ドイツマルク紙幣のギヨシェ（部分, 1963年意匠） — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

The banknote style in which lathe-cut guilloche curves and engraved portraits refuse forgery while making credit visible. America's 1896 Educational Series raised the banknote to allegorical masterpiece.

Intaglio

Intaglio — デューラー『メレンコリアI』1514 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainIntaglio — ゴルツィウス『ファルネーゼのヘラクレス』1592頃 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainIntaglio — 『メレンコリアI』メトロポリタン美術館所蔵版 — Wikimedia Commons / CC0

Ink is left in lines and hollows cut below the surface of a metal plate, and heavy pressure drives damp paper into them, picking up precise lines and the trace of the plate's edge. How the plate is lowered gives each technique its name, so a plate bitten with acid is an etching and a plate roughened then burnished is a mezzotint.

Banknote GuillocheIntaglio
Era18th century–15th century–
FamilyPublic DesignIntaglio Printing
KindTechniqueTechnique
CuesContinuous guilloche curves / Engraved intaglio portraits / Fine background lathework / Hierarchies of denominationSunken lines / Plate marks / Damp paper / High-pressure press
Best used forCertificates and limited passes that should discourage being copied · Warranty papers and mounts where precision itself is the messagePrecise line work meant to resist copying, as on certificates and securities · Small editions and cards where the relief in the paper is part of the object
TypeEngraved serif for value and issuer, fine figures for the numberDesign letters at a weight that can be cut, avoiding sizes that fill in
CompositionA portrait on the axis, the ground laid evenly across the whole fieldTreat the plate mark as the frame and leave wide margins beyond it
MaterialLayered hairline guilloche, depth from two overprinted colorsCopper or zinc, damp heavy paper, and enough press pressure to emboss
CautionLaying the curved pattern down as mere decoration breaks the continuity of the line, and the failure shows the moment it is enlarged.Distinguish how engraving, biting, burr and roughened ground change line quality and tone. Treating margin and pressure casually gives a flat print where the paper never rises around the lines.

Put these two together

Public Design ／ Intaglio Printing

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