Banknote errors?

Here’s something I haven’t really heard much about, do any of you have errors on banknotes? I’ve never seen any instance of one (or I didn’t notice it), but I’m guessing some of you have.

 I have this 

 against which here is a normal note 

There are plenty of error banknotes out there. Here I have two of the most common ones. Common in the sense that millions of pieces were issued, or should I say, the entire prints were all error notes!

Misspelling the name of the President.

N#209525

Australia $50 Next Generation series ND2018 - The word for Responsibility spelled with a missing 'i', not once but a few times.

https://worldpolymernotes.blogspot.com/1982/06/haiti-2-gourde-error-note.html

And this is my favourite - missing the brownish underprint colour on the 2 gourde tyvek note. I only paid $5 for this error UNC note.

I have more but will have to look it up.

Here's an older post on banknote errors.  Value is typically dependent on how dramatic (visual) the error is & other typical factors (like condition). Demand also plays a role for specific series.

Australia $50 Next Generation series ND2018 - The word for Responsibility spelled with a missing 'i', not once but a few times.

I would not consider the Australian $50 with the misspelled “responsibility” as an error but rather a variation (once its been corrected). If millions are produced/issued in a typical run then the mistake is part of the issue & identified as such (usually an “a” variation).  The misspelled “Arroyo” 100 Pesos from the Philippines is another example (& misspelled names or titles are almost common in some series).  

For me, true banknote “errors” are “one offs” or sometimes created on a sheet (but few produced) & typically fewer discovered. They're sometimes subtle (like mismatched/missing serial numbers) & often dramatic (such as “offset or missing” printing). 

I collect error notes, and have around 50 in my collection so far.

Generally, the more spectacular the error, the higher its collector value would be. Errors with extra areas of paper still attached tend to do well, as do missmatched serial numbers.

My rarest error note is a printed fold error on a replacement note.

As replacement notes are used to replace errors in printing, errors on replacement notes are much rarer than those on standard issue notes! 

Here is a picture of another of my favourite error notes.

A 1943 Bank of Ireland £5 note with the red layer of printing missing.

Below, a proof shows the correct colouring of the banknote with the red ink in place.

Another spectacular error. This Irish £1 note has a large area of extra paper on it, and the lower left serial number missing. This is due to the note being folded prior to being numbered and cut down.

Below, a normal note - the numista plate example - for comparison,

I collect error notes, and have around 50 in my collection so far.

That's really impressive @Hibernia!  I think I have less than 10.

I actually sold a few (which I kind of regret). But at least they're in good homes!

Another spectacular error. This Irish £1 note has a large area of extra paper on it, and the lower left serial number missing. This is due to the note being folded prior to being numbered and cut down.

That is a beauty!

My personal favourite is this offset printing error on our 1979 $20:

which I first posted 11/29/2021.  The $20.00 note (along with the 1979 $5.00) confused me b/c the printers moved the 11 digit serial # to the back.  Both denominations became unpopular with collectors b/c they broke the front prefix/SN convention. I remember trying to sort the mystery out while a 17 year old working at a local carwash (handling them).   

That note also represents when I purged my collection of all $50 & $100 (to pay for my new error sets!) over 30 years later.

Hibernia

My rarest error note is a printed fold error on a replacement note.

As replacement notes are used to replace errors in printing, errors on replacement notes are much rarer than those on standard issue notes! 

That’s funny, The banknote meant to fix an error had an error itself

Here's my VF example of an *G/F replacement with a cut out of register error. On the bottom you can see the top border of the note from below:

Serial_Number_8

Here's my VF example of an *G/F replacement with a cut out of register error.

Very nice replacement note error there.