(n.)
Guilloché (pronounced “GEE-uh-shay” with a hard g) is a word borrowed from the fields of jewelry and metalworking that is frequently encountered when dealing with U.S. paper money. It can mean of the following:
- ) An engraving and printing term for a delicate, precise, and intricate weblike pattern. One example is the line work found around the design of any United States Federal Reserve Note.
- ) An engraving and printing technique for creating a delicate, very precise and intricate pattern on the surface of an object.
Engravers and printers originally utilized guilloché as an anti-counterfeiting technique on a variety of printed media, and the practice naturally carried over into currency design.
Guilloché was also used on the reverse of California gold rush $50 gold slugs.
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