Printing Money ?

[ck1]

Hi everyone,

As ideas flash through my head for mug designs, I wondered where you stand if you wanted to print the image of a fiver or tenner on a mug? Is it a no-no, or are there ways of achieving this by altering the image etc, or could I use a (now defunct) image of a 1pound note?

Chris

[socialgiraffe]

Not sure about the £1 note, but replicating money that is in circulation is a strict no no.

Changing it beyond recognition I suppose would be okay, but I doubt you would be able to say FIVE POUNDS for example.

[barryslip]

Try it on plain paper! Most printer drivers will not allow you to do it!

[Ian M]

It is a big no no unless you get permission from the Bank of England first.

Reproducing Banknotes - Guidelines Page Content

Introduction
Under section 18(1) of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 it is a criminal offence for any person, without the prior consent in writing of the Bank of England, to reproduce on any substance whatsoever, and whether or not on the correct scale, any Bank of England banknote or any part of a Bank of England banknote. The Bank of England also owns the copyright in its banknotes.

Novelty Banknotes
The Bank of England does not give authority for any reproductions in the form of a novelty banknote (e.g. one where a celebrity or other images are shown on a banknote or other such changes). This is because there have been instances of notes altered in this way, being accepted as genuine banknotes by unsuspecting members of the public.

Procedure
Those wishing to reproduce Bank of England banknotes should, before taking steps to reproduce such notes, apply for consent on-line by completing and submitting the Banknote Reproductions Application Form, which contains explanation and guidance notes. The Note Reproductions Officer will endeavour to respond within five working days of receipt. Postal applications can also be made by printing and completing the application form below and mailing it to the correspondence address given below. The Note Reproductions Officer will endeavour to respond within 5 working days of receipt.

The Notes Reproduction Officer of the Bank of England can be contacted at: [EMAIL="banknote.reproductions@bankofengland.co.uk]banknote.reproductions@bankofengland.co.uk[/EMAIL] or on +44 (0)20 7601 4028.

Correspondence about the reproduction of banknotes should be addressed to:
Bank of England
Banknote Reproductions Officer
Notes Division
Threadneedle Street
London
EC2R 8AH

[pisquee]

Apply for the permission - nowt to lose!

[ck1]

Well I can't imagine paying for some chips with a mug with a fiver printed on it, but I'll steer clear of this one!

[arko]

Well, just out of curiosity, I wrote to Reproductions Officer, Banknote Education Team, about what were the actual requirements for printing/reproducing notes on different materials... and here was their reply:

Dear IanThank you for your recent application for banknote reproduction.
In order to process your application further, please send the artwork you wish to use on the t-shirts via return e-mail.
Please also note that you will have to submit a separate application form, and email the artwork, for each product type you wish to create (e.g. mugs, phone cases etc).
Regards
Hayley McShane

Reproductions Officer
Banknote Education Team | Notes Division

Bank of England | Threadneedle Street | London | EC2R 8AH

Interesting to know that you have to provide artwork for each type of product!, i.e., mugs, tees, slates etc etc. I only enquired about T-shirts!
I suppose its always better to be safe than sorry, although I cant begin to imagine how many people are actually doing this without authority. And the reproduction guidelines are really tight concerning what you may and may not do with the image. Very Interesting reading on their site.

[bigj2552]

i got a loo roll thats made of fake £50 notes on the roll - funny as hell when friends go to the toilet

[ck1]

arko - that's very interesting what the bank say and just as I had suspected- I guess the majority of things with money printed on them are therefore not official, not worth the aggro in my opinion, Sod's law says if they catch anyone it likely to be me, so I'm not even gonna chance it!

[arko]

Im just wondering if they or how they actually police this. For example, If I apply for permission, they would obviously follow up on any work that I do involving reproducing bank-notes... would they or do they follow up thins that are for sale on ebay and such?... I doubt it. Besides, as long as the printed image cannot in any way be mistaken for a real banknote or that your image can be re-produced to be passed off as a real one, I cant see what the problem is. But again, these rules are in place for a reason even if I do find them a bit extreme... i.e., each image MUST have "SPECIMEN" written through it diagonally from bottom left to top right etc etc etc. I wouldnt want to get on the wrong side of them and I wonder how many people who are using these images on their goods realise the seriousness of getting caught?