Pressed and washed notes

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

I've heard the terms pressed and washed used quite a bit without really understanding what they mean.  What is the definition of a pressed note?  What is a washed note?

How does one go about pressing or washing a note?  Is it something anyone can do at home, or does it require machinery or solvents?

Brad

Don't do it. I don't. It will lower the value of any note. Collectors want originality and will pay for it when you sell your collection....

Pressed is what it sounds like. the note is forced into a flat shape, often using mechanical aids, like a steam iron, or squeezing the paper flat.

Washing is a method where stains and discolouration are removed or lessened. Many attempts to do these these ruins or damages the note. If done professonally, no one can tell.

Rick

An interesting device for "stretching out" rather than "pressing out" folds and creases was demonstrated at a meeting of the City of Ottawa Coin Club many (perhaps 15-20) years ago. The note was lightly moistened using a damp tissue and then it was mechanically stretched out and held in the stretched position using a special frame until the folds had dried out. I forget the exact design details but the final result was surprisingly good and the note certainly looked more natural than one that has been immersed in water and then pressed in a book or by an iron.

Numismatic ingenuity knows no bounds!!

Washing is a method where stains and discolouration are removed or lessened. Many attempts to do these these ruins or damages the note. If done professionally, [size=14]no one [/size] can tell.[/b] Rick

I would personally rephrase that as "If done professionally, most inexperienced collectors/dealers would be unable to tell".

If done professionally, most inexperienced collectors/dealers would be unable to tell

I agree with Ottawa:  Occassionally, I still miss a professionally doctored note, but there's Sudzee, and a few other "foxes" on this forum who can spot any tampering almost immediately.  BWJM, oleDon, Tom, and many more can tell a doctored note from an original-- after no more than a minute of inspection.

I've been told that notes are dry-cleaned, or washed in detergents, and then specially dried.  I would imagine the culprit would try to press the water out, or do something to ensure a new paper like result (like the frame that Ottawa was talking about).

I also don't understand the comment (on another thread) about "washed and pressed" as if the two go hand in hand.  I'm sure the majority of washed notes are pressed (esp Dominion and Chartered) but I would be suprised if all pressed notes were washed.  I suspect a great many more 1954 (and on) notes being simply "pressed" rather than "washed and pressed."  There are many ways to press a note - even by novice collectors who just don't think they're actually damaging a note by pressing it in a book.  

That stretch frame sounds fascinating Ottawa.  I would have loved to seen it demonstrated on a common F note!

On a more serious note, I hope that third party graders will define exactly how they suspect a note has been doctored.  I thiink some collectors would prefer a pressed note to a washed and pressed note (on a rare piece).

Read the whole thing that I wrote. If done professionally is in there, I believe. The quote is all distorted with coloured words and such.

Add to that, if you don't know what you are doing, leave the notes alone.

Rick

Just for the record, I have no intention of altering any of my notes.  I agree with the points raised in this thread against pressing and/or washing notes.

The place is getting weird.  

Why does one have to just for the record in this and other matters ? Do the rest of us care ? Or should the rest of us also make our position clear in this and other matters ?

It is even more uncharacteristic for someone who is the head of a professional organization to be needlessly and tactlessly making strong statements using words like NO ONE,  I will NEVER sign a petition.

  Has this place changed from a friendly place to more confrontational and hostile forum ?

Don

Nothing weird about this place.
If the antique, coin or piece of paper is professionally cleaned, pressed or altered, assuming it is done very well, no one can tell the difference from original. It is the poor jobs that are a giveaway. Old books have been altered, manuscripts altered. Most of them were done so well that even known experts don't know.
Paintings are faked all the time, but by experts in their field.
The general consensus about notes, is leave them as is. Store them properly, many hints on these pages tells us how it is done.

Most dealers sell for more than they paid. This is normal and proper.

Rick  

My earlier post wasn't a pro "washing & pressing notes" statement, nor "for the record" or an attempt to stir up the pot!  I'm just trying to express honestly what I think I know about doctored notes.  After collecting all these years (about 30) I'm still surprised at what I miss.  I'll never forget just last year, at the Falls show, seeing a very rare note from the glass (not inspecting it) and salivating at the thoughts of owning it.  It was priced about $1500 below book for the apparent condition.  A very senior (and well connected) collector/dealer came walking by and told me the note was washed and pressed.  I pratically gasped in surprise even though I didn't have a chance to inspect the note closely.   It was clearly a professional job.  

That exerience taught me 3 things:
a) that notes can be doctored to look amazing, and passed on to most collectors unknowingly, b) that if a note is a bargain price-- there's likely a good reason!
c) it pays to be well connected, informed, and to assume nothing

When discussing the practice of processing a rare note: I've too often seen the monkey response (hear no, see no, & speak no EVIL -evil- being a washed note!) which gets us nowhere.   I'm writing about what I know about it and hope to hear others experiences with such notes.  I know its not really what most collectors want to discuss -- its like a dirty secret!

Thirty years ago, I used to buy a note without even properly inspecting it.  Its only been the last 3 years that I've learned how to properly grade a note.  I have a few processed notes too --but that doesn't bother me because I love collecting... I don't buy notes simply as an investment.  

Naturally, I prefer original to processed, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a note for its beauty (processed or not).  I now tend to avoid dealers who sell processed notes-- unless they tell me the note is processed up front.   What bothers me about the emergence of 3rd party grading, is whether they have  come to terms with the amount of notes doctored-- Are they documenting these/ and revealing the kind of processing?  IMO: That's something that needs to be investigated.

pressed notes are truly a bad thing!! the seller always does this to raise the grade of the note. I recently received 4 high value notes from 1937 and sent them back due to pressing. UNC MEANS  UNC.

If the antique, coin or piece of paper is professionally cleaned, pressed or altered, assuming it is done very well, no one can tell the difference from original. It is the poor jobs that are a giveaway.....

I'm reluctant to use the term "professionally" in the context of washing/pressing/cleaning notes as that word implies to me that there are "professional" services out there that offer this type of specialized service for a fee ....... just like professional grading and authentication services do. An exception would be the sort of "professional" restoration/conservation that museums and public archives perform on impaired artifacts that have great historical significance or rarity.

In my 35 years of collecting experience, most if not all washing/pressing/cleaning of notes is done surreptitiously behind closed doors with the intent of deceiving potential buyers --- hardly a "professional" activity! I know of only one person (I've known him for 20 years) who has openly admitted to me that he routinely washes and presses notes in order to provide a regular source of income. He specializes in buying EF's and AU's and processing them into what he calls AU's and UNC's respectively. His doctored notes are very obviously doctored to me but he always tells me that he has no trouble moving them down the line to (unsuspecting?) collectors and dealers who just love "flat" notes. I guess this is just another example of capitalism at its best and for that reason alone we will probably never see an end to washing/pressing/cleaning. It's a sad reality but it's true. That is why original unpressed/undoctored notes are going to become progressively rarer, more highly prized, and therefore more expensive, in the future.