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V25 2022 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE THE GEOMETRIC LATHEFranklin Noll publishes a wonderful blog featuring short items on numismatic and monetary history. The May 2, 2022 piece pictures a rare and important device in banknote making - the geometric lathe. With permission, we're republishing it here. Thanks! Found via News & Notes from the Society of Paper Money Collectors (Volume VII, Number 47, May 10, 2022). -Editor 
Does anyone recognize this now rare piece of banknote equipment? Before Jura, the One System, and other banknote design software, one had to use this machine to create intricate, geometric patterns for designs often referred to as scroll work or guilloche or lathe work. This is the geometric lathe. It is also known as a rose engine lathe or a guilloche lathe. Such guilloche was in vogue in the 19th and 20th centuries when complex intaglio was the primary way to thwart counterfeiting. However, the only major currency that still retains a lot of such scroll work is the US Federal Reserve Note, which continues to employ it in its border designs. Included is a link to a great video showing a geometric lathe in action at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1939. Frank notes that the source of the photo is https://www.bep.gov/currency/history/image-gallery/photographs#lightbox-5986 -Editor
To watch the video, see:
To read the complete article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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