Banknote Guilloche

紙幣のギヨシェ / 18th century– / Technique / Public Design

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.

Banknote Guilloche — United States Educational Series 2 dollar note, 1896 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — United States Educational Series 2 dollar note, 1896 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Banknote Guilloche — Educational Series 1 dollar note, 1896 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Educational Series 1 dollar note, 1896 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Banknote Guilloche — Guilloche on the old 5 Deutsche Mark note (detail, 1963 design) — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · © The original uploader was Ralf Pfeifer at German Wikipedia . — Guilloche on the old 5 Deutsche Mark note (detail, 1963 design) — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · © The original uploader was Ralf Pfeifer at German Wikipedia .

At a glance

Visual cues

Continuous guilloche curves
Engraved intaglio portraits
Fine background lathework
Hierarchies of denomination

Best used for

Certificates and limited passes that should discourage being copied
Warranty papers and mounts where precision itself is the message

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Dictionary entry

Type: Engraved serif for value and issuer, fine figures for the number
Composition: A portrait on the axis, the ground laid evenly across the whole field
Material: Layered hairline guilloche, depth from two overprinted colors
Caution: Laying the curved pattern down as mere decoration breaks the continuity of the line, and the failure shows the moment it is enlarged.
Further study: the geometric lathe / the Educational Series of 1896 / modern anti-counterfeit design

Related entries

Intaglio (凹版印刷)Shared effects: Luxury / Technique.Compare Banknote Guilloche and Intaglio
Victorian Ornament (ヴィクトリアン装飾)Shared effects: Luxury.Compare Banknote Guilloche and Victorian Ornament

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