Ironing Banknotes?? [solved]

Many of my recently inherited collection of several hundred German and Russian (??) banknotes are creased or wrinkled.  I rn across this advice on the web.  Wondered what the experienced collectors think about this approach.

Ironing Your Money

The ironing instructions below are easy and simple to follow. A little effort and you’ll have straightened your banknotes:

If you prefer not to wash your money at all, dampen your wrinkled notes with a spray bottle or sprinkle them with a little water by hand.

Gently smooth the notes and place them on a dry cloth on an ironing board, table, or other stable surface.

Place another towel, thick handkerchief, or other natural fabric on top of the paper bills to prevent scorching or tearing them.

Set the iron between the "Silk" to "Rayon" settings and steam press. Never iron your bills with dry heat. Iron your notes using a circular motion on top of your fabric. Unless you actually want your bills to have a burnished, aged look, it's recommended not to iron your money past the "Rayon" setting to avoid irreversible damage.

Once the notes are pressed, let them air dry. Wait a bit and they should look crisp and new again.

Yeah, i'd say never iron notes, like ever, no matter the method. If you want to straighten notes as much as you can, put them between the pages of a book, easy and no complications, but that reduces the value. It's best to leave them the way they are.

Ironing damages a  banknote and reduces the value of it. 

Often described as ‘pressed’ in auction catalogues, many collectors would not buy such a note, myself included.

The process of ironing presses the raised ink flat on the note, can cause burn damage to the paper and also sometimes melts the ink on the surface. It can also interfere with the sizing on the note. The note will also appear flatter than it should.

Additionally, when wet, and ironed, the inked area of the note and the uninked area will dry at different rates, producing a relative shrinkage of the inked area. This is the cause of wrinkles which are sometimes seen on the uninked area of pressed notes.

If there are any areas of the banknote which are affected by mould, these may disintegrate when ironed or washed, producing holes. The mould will already have weakened the structure of the paper.

In short, it is better to not wash, clean, iron or otherwise increase the damage to your notes.

Ironing, pressing, bleaching all those don't make a damaged note better but worse. Like you can't unpolished a coin without inducing much more additional damage.

If you do it and then want to sell trade them later, at least don't expect serious collectors not to notice.

RobertTGM

Yeah, i'd say never iron notes, like ever, no matter the method. If you want to straighten notes as much as you can, put them between the pages of a book, easy and no complications, but that reduces the value. It's best to leave them the way they are.

Why would keeping a note in a book reduce it's value?

thegamesbond

RobertTGM

Yeah, i'd say never iron notes, like ever, no matter the method. If you want to straighten notes as much as you can, put them between the pages of a book, easy and no complications, but that reduces the value. It's best to leave them the way they are.

 

Why would keeping a note in a book reduce it's value?

That isnt the case with straight notes, but it is with already folded ones. It basically damages the fibers in the note. You know when you fold plastic and it becomes white at the base and lossens the more you do it? Its kinda like that with notes but less obvious.