1991 Birds $20 Note - Alignment Error

This is a fabulous double-error banknote! That is to say, is contains two types of errors on it. If you look carefully at the portrait of the Queen, you will see blank areas surrounding her head. That is because the intaglio (raised ink) stage of the printing process was out of alignment.

© Bank of Canada - used with permission

You can see that the entire design on the front is shifted to the left and out of place, leaving voids where the images should be.

The second error on this note is a little less significant, being a minor upward shift and very slight clockwise rotation. If you look at the base of the Queen's portrait, you will see that it is not parallel with the cut of the note. The intaglio printing is too close to the gold OSD on the left, but matches up with the blank areas on the right. The intaglio layer is also visibly rotated.

Contributor: canada-banknotes
Writer: Hudson Byblow

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