This is for Brent;
You state in your post above that entire sheets are inserted. This I understand, but correct me if I'm wrong, but the position numbers would be on the sheets PRIOR to the serial numbers being printed. To get matching front and back plate numbers would mean that a large number of "blank" (no serial number) sheets would have to be stocked and available before the TWO different serial numbers are printed.
This seems unwieldly. I thought printing plates were only good for 500 sheets before needing to be changed.
Does this mean that while the main run is being printed, the inserts are printed from the same stockpile as required? This also seems inefficient in the extreme.
Could some one enlighten me? I had assumed that a certain number of notes (say 20,000) were printed PRIOR to the "regular" run of notes. As the "regular" notes are being printed, errors are removed and replaced with the previously printed insert notes. When a ream of 100 sheets is ready, with say 3 insert sheets, the ream is cut, and voila!, one bundle with 3 inserts.
What am I missing?
A detailed explanation of the printing process would make a great CPMS newsletter article (for us uninitiated).
Well Kelly, I'll be glad to tell you my understanding of the process. Keep in mind that this is only my version of it and it is a product of what I have heard elsewhere and my own twisted sense of logic. I do not guarantee that it is correct, and I welcome any opinions or facts which are more correct.
On to my theory...
Part One: CBNBefore starting a print run, the printing company prints at least one ream (500 sheets) of notes from an "insert range". These sheets are piled onto a skid somewhere in the building. Then the real print run starts up. As each ream of regular notes is completed, some sheets are invariably pulled out because of problems.
1 This leaves a ream with less than 500 sheets. Enough sheets are grabbed from the "insert skid" to make up the full ream of 500 sheets. The insert sheets are placed just under the top sheet on the ream. Since all sheets are printed with the same position numbers in the same spot all the time, we know that CBN is inserting full sheets because the position numbers on the insert notes in a brick do not differ from the position numbers on the regular notes, and if an insert note is found between note 000 and 001, there will be another insert note numbered 500 higher between 500 and 501. The now-full ream proceeds to the cutting stage to be cut and stacked into bricks of 1,000 notes and packaged before going into inventory.
Part Two: BABNBefore starting a print run, the printing company prints at least one ream (500 sheets) of notes from an "insert range". These sheets proceed right through to the cutting stage and are then piled onto a skid somewhere in the building. Then the real print run starts up. As each ream of regular notes is completed, including the cutting stage, some sheets are invariably pulled out because of problems.
1 Depending on the damage to the sheet, only some of the notes on the sheet are truly damaged. The rest are left in-place. For the notes that are removed, enough single notes are grabbed from the "insert skid" to make up the full stack of 500 notes. The insert notes are placed in the exact spot that the problem notes were removed from. Since the insert notes are inserted individually after being cut, they could have been from any position on the sheet, not necessarily the same one as where they are now being inserted. Thus, the position numbers will be different from the rest of the notes. We find additional proof that BABN is inserting single sheets because if one is found between note 123 and 125, there generally won't be one between 623 and 625. The now-full piles of notes now proceed to get packaged before going into inventory.
Real-life "Proof"I've seen this demonstrated first-hand because I have in the past year gotten a brick of $10s from both BABN and CBN and they both had insert notes (and a fair number of them to boot!) The CBN brick was FEM. I found several inserts between notes 000 and 001, and an equal quantity, numbered 500 higher, found between notes 500 and 501. All 1,000 notes, including the inserts, had the same front and back position numbers. For the curious ones, they were FEM inserts in a brick of FEM notes. The BABN brick was just recently obtained. The brick itself was BEU notes. As I fingered through the entire brick, note-by-note, I found 3 caches of inserts in various parts of the brick. I don't recall exactly where they were, but I know they were not even close to 000/001, or 500/501. Each cache of insert notes was of a different quantity. Also, while the BEU notes all had front and back position numbers of 89/89, the BEV inserts had position numbers of 73/62.
Position NumbersJust a note on position numbers. They are not plate numbers. Plate numbers were used up until some time in the late 1970s, or early 1980s. Position numbers are fixed for each spot on the sheet. Any note printed in a particular position (ie: row 3, column 4) will always have the same position numbers. These position number layouts are not necessarily the same from one denomination to the next, but I think in some cases they are. More information, although not for the faint of heart, can be found in the several articles by Don Roebuck in the CPMS newsletter.
So, in short, CBN inserts full sheets with the result being that if you find X inserts between 000/001, you will find another X inserts between 500/501. All inserts and regular notes in the brick should have the same position numbers. BABN inserts individual notes with the result being that you will find inserts anywhere in the brick, and they will not be paired up. The position numbers should normally differ from between regular notes and insert notes.
That's about as clear as mud on a foggy day after a few too many beers, isn't it? :-/
Footnote:
1 For simplicity, let's assume this is only done after the sheets exit the printing process, ie: no sheets are inserted before numbers are applied.
