Seeking Opinions about the pinhole(s) in this note
sellitstore
Posts: 2,828 ✭✭✭✭✭
I first spotted this note several days ago when the seller had it listed for over three times it's current asking price-around $1000. It seemed like a lot for a common note graded AU58 with "pinholes", so I read the description and learned something that I had never heard before in all my years specializing in obsolete currency. The seller was claiming that this hole was made by a pin placed in the plate in order to align the sheet and plate. He also claimed that this was the case with all top (plate letter A) notes and sheets.
I wrote the seller informing him of his error and asking where this information came from. I pointed out that this note was plate letter "C", not "A" (He obviously mistook the stamped "A" for a plate letter, which it is not). Well, he changed the description and lowered the price-by over two thirds.
So, what do you think? I own at least 20 different banknote plates and none have this feature described by this seller nor have I ever seen it on a Spider press. Besides, PCGS mentions pinholes because they happened after the sheet was produced, not as part of the manufacturing process.
I believe that this seller is trying to put the best possible spin on a negative comment on a holder. We could talk about the "Top Pop" fallacy but I'll save that for another thread. What do you think of the "pinhole as made" claim?
https://ebay.com/itm/235520209710?itmmeta=01HVEAFVCB6A86B92QDN1XFYH8&hash=item36d619332e:g:zMYAAOSwNqZmGt6p
Comments
That’s definitely a first for me.
Maybe member @Berny will see this thread and chime in.
I have a couple dozen obsolete sheets, none of them have pinholes. I also have countless obsoletes from the A position without pinholes.
Yeah, I had never heard of this before and suspected that it was just sales hype, but I can be wrong sometimes, so wanted to see if anyone else was familiar with this.
Precise alignment of the paper and the sheet isn't really important. As long as the impression is 100% on the paper, the result is acceptable as trimming will make all sheets close to identical. Alignment is important only when adding a second color and I don't think that pins were used for this purpose.
The seller has obviously never seen an uncut sheet of notes. If he had, he would know that there is quite a bit of selvage outside the design of the notes that is trimmed off.
I am no engineer nor a printer, but I am quite certain that if I were designing such a system, the alignment pins would be in the selvage and not in the design of the note.
Good point @vonlettow