Tiny Plate Numbers

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

P.S. Brent I'm pretty sure I have all the plate #'s right, though my eyes started to get a little blurry after a while.

Why do they make the plate numbers so small anyways? Who are they hiding them from.

They are not part of the design, and nobody needs to read them except perhaps the RCMP and BoC employees.

I knew that they were not apart of the design. The front FPN is very easy to read, Its the BPN thats a pain. It is hiden in a part of the design that is coloured. And then just to top that off they make the colour of the BPN the same as the design.

Oh well, I guess you have to get used to it.

With a loupe, they are easy to read.  Since they aren't usually needed, any professional that ever needs to read them must use some type of magnifier.  Not too big a deal, in my opinion.

Why do they make the plate numbers so small anyways? Who are they hiding them from.

Us, who else? 

This may seem like a stupid question, but when to they apply the FPN & BPN?  Are they applied at the same time (or does the FPN go on front with design)? 

I think that position numbers are part of the litho design itself.  I don't believe that there is a separate printing run only to put these numbers.

I think that position numbers are part of the litho design itself

I believe this is the case for the FPN -- it looks as if it's part of the design-- but the BPN does not. 

I believe the BPN is printed on.  First, the BPN seems imprinted, as the ink is extremely faint, but there seems to be a stamping impression when it's been made.

Second:
I have 2 UNC BTU's I found in a small run, and I believe the BPN changes while the FPN stays the same.  I will give you the #'s when I get home with the #'s recorded. 

I believe the BPN is printed on.

I'm going to suggest otherwise. The BPN has not been engraved (intaglio) since the back plates were, and that ended mid-way through the Multicoloured series. Since then, the backs and the BPNs have been printed by lithography.

Similarly, the vast majority of the front of the Journey notes are printed by lithography as well. In fact, the only intaglio elements are: a) BANK OF CANADA text on left edge, b) coat of arms, c) counter at top of holographic strip, d) portrait, e) legend beneath the portrait, f) CANADA / denomination / DOLLARS at top centre, and g) the large counter at the bottom right. Everything else is lithography or is a part of the paper.

I have 2 UNC BTU's I found in a small run, and I believe the BPN changes while the FPN stays the same.  I will give you the #'s when I get home with the #'s recorded.

Now that I'd like to see!

I have 2 UNC BTU's I found in a small run, and I believe the BPN changes while the FPN stays the same

I have to take this back after getting a 2nd pair of eyes to examine the numbers for me. 

The plate number was 56, and I thought the previous note was 55.  Even my friend who looked at it took about 5 minutes to see that it wasn't a 55 since the background appears slightly darker and obscures the second digit somewhat.  I must admit that the change didn't make sense and-

after looking over the $20 note's FPN/BPN -- I can see now

Everything else is lithography or is a part of the paper.

  That does make more sense.   

I am now just wondering why the BPN is so obscured on the $10 while it's so much clearer on the $20?