Two centuries of Russian security printing, in three test notes.

The first marks 200 years of Goznak, founded by imperial decree in 1818 as the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers and still the printer behind Russia’s banknotes, passports and coin. The face gathers the figures who built it; the back reads left to right from an 1818 pressroom to a circuit board, with the words “by decree of His Imperial Majesty” still in the fine print.

The other two mark the Moscow Printing Factory, which turned 100 on 6 July 2019, and they only look identical until you find the window on the front. On Type II, the scarcer of the pair, the pressman’s arms break clear of the frame and reach across to the stacked sheets. On Type I he sits fully inset, arms hidden. Hold either up to the light and the worker steps into the empty window on the back, which is exactly what a test note is for: letting the printer show off.

No watermark, no thread, 161 x 78 mm, and “no value” printed plainly.

An amazing note from Hyderabad in India. This is a rare date on an already rare note.