Where are countries printing their currencies?
Places to print the currencies of countries
The currencies of countries are printed in government banknote presses or presses that are supervised by the government itself, and the printing process is usually done in complete secrecy without fully announcing the methods of printing, due to strict security necessities. Printing currencies and specifying the number of new banknotes to be printed each year; As it controls the entire national money supply, the following is an overview of the places where the world’s most prominent currencies are printed:
- US Dollars: All US dollar banknotes are printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) of the US Treasury Department; This is in two government printing presses, one in Washington, DC, and the other in Fort Worth, Texas. The US Mint is responsible for the production of all US dollar coins.
- Euro: Euro banknotes have been produced since the first issuance of the euro currency in the financial markets in 2002 AD in a joint coordination by the National Central Banks (NCBs) in the countries of the Eurozone, and a number of approved European currency presses, such as: (Enschedé) in the Netherlands, and (FC Oberthur) in France, (De La Rue) in Britain, and (Giesecke & Devrient) in Germany, As for the responsibility for minting euro coins, it rests with the national governments of the eurozone countries, after the approval of the European Central Bank Governing Council On the total value of the coins that will be put into circulation annually.
- Pound sterling: British currency notes are printed by the British Money Printing Company (De La Rue); Which includes several UK production facilities for printing currency, passports, tax stamps, checks and other secure documents.
- Chinese Renminbi: Chinese banknotes are printed at the BPMC Press; It is the largest currency printing press in the world, as it includes in its facilities nearly 18,000 employees working in ten production sites, noting that this printing press is also responsible for printing banknotes of several countries around the world, including: Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Poland, and Sri Lanka. , and Thailand.
The history of currency printing Among the most prominent stations in the history of paper currency printing over the years are the following:
- Paper money was used for the first time in the world in China, more than a thousand years ago during the Tang Dynasty, by merchants who sought to avoid dealing with copper coins and replaced them with paper currencies.
- European banknotes were first issued in Sweden by the Stockholm Bank of Sweden’s National Central Bank, and within a few months other European governments issued paper money.
- The Bank of England is the first to continue issuing banknotes since 1695 AD, when these banknotes were handwritten, but by 1745 AD, standard banknotes were printed in denominations ranging from (20-1000) pounds sterling.
- The paper US dollar was issued for the first time in the financial markets in 1862 AD in the denomination of one dollar; In order to compensate for the shortage of currencies. The printing of banknotes using polymer papers was developed for the first time in Australia in 1988.
The most prominent international companies specialized in printing currencies European monetary companies control the printing of international banknotes; Because of its specialized printing machines, secured inks, and the latest automatic equipment for carefully examining banknotes after printing and destroying spent banknotes, noting that a few private European companies fully control these presses,
Including the French printing company FC Oberthur, and the British company De La Rue, the German company Jieske und Different; Together, they hold a market share estimated at 90% of the total global market shares for currency printing. As for the Dutch company Enschede and the Swiss company Aurel Fuseli, they produce high-level cash from a security and technical point of view for their national banks, but their share in the free market is small.
- The most prominent security signs in currency printing The countries of the world take many security measures during the process of printing banknotes in order to make them less vulnerable to counterfeiting, and the most prominent of these security features are the following:
- The quality of the paper used in the manufacture of banknotes is vastly different from the quality of ordinary paper; Where a special type of paper is used to extend the life of the banknote and make it more complex for counterfeiting, noting that at the present time polymer papers are used because their average life is longer and they are resistant to fire and water.
- The use of security tapes (in English: Security threads), which are the most common and safe security features in currency printing, which are embedded in paper at a very early stage of banknote production, and there are usually two types of security tapes in one paper; The internal security tape made of plastic is solid and transparent and includes some fine inscriptions, and the security tape overlapping the banknote is generally composed of metallic foil and contains text written inside it that is observed when exposing the banknote to a light source.
- Printing banknotes in close and slightly changing color gradations that are difficult to notice.
- Intaglio printing on both sides of the banknote so that it can be sensed by touch.
- The glow of a specific image or area of a banknote when exposed to ultraviolet rays; This is because of the fluorescent coating or some of the dyes used in its production, which is the most recent safety feature used in the manufacture of modern banknotes. Holograms, which require expensive, specific, and high-tech equipment to implement; This makes it difficult to counterfeit.
Printing banknotes and inflation problems
The continuous printing of national currencies raises concerns among economists; As the printing of cash by government agencies faster than the growth of the actual national product reduces the value of the cash currency, which leads to financial inflation whose effects may be very harmful to the national economy, and it is worth noting that national governments do not prefer to resort to printing more currency The national currency, except when it is unable to finance its borrowing by selling bonds.
