Manufacture

The Banco de México Banknote Factory prints the banknotes that are needed according to an appraisal of requests. Banknotes are printed with special inks on substrates of various types with various security features depending on the denomination. The main processes involved are:

Distribution
Banknotes are distributed throughout our country by ground and air transportation to branches (Banco de México offices) and member financial institutions (commercial bank branches in various cities contracted by Banco de México), all of which are found in strategic locations.

The service of making banknote deposits and withdrawals directly to and from the banking system occurs in cities where a Banco de México branch or member financial institution is located under the rules described by Circular 2026/96. Commercial banks withdraw banknotes to meet the demands of the public. As a result, banknotes become available to the public promptly.

The public, as well, withdraws banknotes from the banks at teller windows and mainly at automatic teller machines.

Return
During circulation, banknotes are subject to varying conditions, they change hands innumerable times, and they are most likely that not exposed to several climatic factors, all of which causes deterioration.

Each time a banknote returns to a bank, it is classified according to its condition. If deterioration is not sufficient for withdrawal, then the banknote returns to circulation. Otherwise, it is sent to the Banco de México.

Deteriorated banknotes returned to Banco de México are subject to a process that includes counting, authentication, classification, and destruction. This process is performed manually or with automated equipment wherever Banco de México is located.

A banknote's lifecycle ends when the note is destroyed; that is when it is shred so that reconstruction is impossible.

Design
When the need to design a new banknote arises, the first step is to select a motif. Today, Mexican banknotes have as a main theme an honored individual or national hero, whose portrait is complemented with images of objects, places or symbols that allude to the individual's life and work. With the graphic elements or drawings selected, alternatives are proposed that take into account the criteria and restrictions of security and the manufacturing process.

Back to the top

Engraving
Banknotes are printed with an embossed seal engraving which requires an original made on steel plates of the same size as the printed banknote. After the portrait and vignettes are finished, complementary graphic elements are added to produce the definitive original.

Back to the top

Plates and sheets
From the finished original, a multiple negative is obtained and then, images are transferred to a sheet to be used for offset printing.

Also, plastic engravings are obtained from the original plate and sorted and combined in a multiple mounting to obtain the plates that will be used in the printing of the engravings.

Back to the top

Offset printing
The initial printing process is performed on both sides simultaneously to achieve a perfect registration. This consists of complex patterns of multicolored fine lines that cannot be felt.

Back to the top

Engraving printing
The second printing stage is the intaglio printing or printing of the engravings, which results in printed embossed patterns sensitive to touch. Through this process, the text, drawings and inscriptions are printed along with the portrait.

Back to the top

Typographical printing
The third and last printing stage is rigorous numbering that makes every banknote unique.

Back to the top

Printed banknote testing and finishing
Although each printing phase depends on a control process, at the end, several inspections are performed. They can be manual or automated.

In a manual inspection, the front and back of the sheets are checked, and defective notes are marked, separated and destroyed. Once the sheets have been reviewed, they are cut and the banknotes are examined, cut, iron-banded and packed.

In the case of an automated review, after the printed sheets are examined, notes are cut and fed into the examination machinery, which checks some safety features and looks for printing defects. Finally, the notes found to be without defects after this process are packed into bundles of 1,000 notes, with an information label denoting the serial numbers of each package.

Back to the top

Packing
The main task of the packing process is to achieve logistics suitable for facilitating the distribution, control and identification of the content of each packed unit. This is performed using a bar code, similar to the codes used at supermarkets to label product prices.

Back to the top