As far I know (and correct me if I'm wrong), I believe that the holographic strip is put first, but I cannot tell for sure if it done by the makers of the paper at the mill, or put by the printers on the reams of paper on a separate unit. I would think it's done by the makers of the paper because it would eliminate the possibility of put a strip for a denomination on the wrong paper (identified by the watermark) by the printers.
For sure, the watermarks and the security thread are put in place during the making the paper (the thread is partially imbedded in the paper fibers).
The first prints are the for backgroung coulours, made by lithography (probably with multiple passes with different inks to make all the hues). The signatures are printed at this stage because they are put on the plates with the rest of the background design. It was different in the 1935, 1937 and 1954 series because the signatures were separately printed at the BoC, on a special press by the BoC employees. That's why we see signature errors on these series, particularly on the 1954 serie.
The following print is made on engraved plates for the portrait and all what give the high relief printing (raised ink).
The fluorescent markings are probably printed after that, then the codebar and serials on the back (printed by different machines because of the kind of errors seen).
I was told that there is at least 7 printing steps to make banknotes, probably more. The scheme is consistent with this number...
Strange enough that it seems nobody who works (or had worked) for BABN or CBN can shed a bit of light on the process. Are they under a kind of security clause, where they cannot tell anything of what they learned in the pressroom for the rest of their lives?
