Description and research notes
This 1993 20 Dollars Federal Reserve Note from the Chicago District (Friedberg 2080-G, GA Block) represents one of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s most visually dynamic mechanical failures—a genuine Printed Tear Error, preserved in fully original condition. The note exhibits two sharply folded and partially torn corners that became creased before entering the final printing pass. When the sheet was fed into the intaglio press, the torn and folded segments prevented ink from transferring to those areas, leaving distinctive blank voids and offset impressions once unfolded.
Printed tear errors like this one reveal the physical realities of the BEP’s high-speed production process. During the early 1990s, sheets were stacked and advanced through mechanical feeders at roughly 10,000 impressions per hour. A misfeed, suction failure, or improperly aligned sheet edge could cause a corner to fold under or tear. Because each sheet underwent multiple print passes—back, face, and overprint—a single fold could be inked multiple times on different planes of paper, creating the layered and shadowed voids now visible.
Unlike routine cutting or trimming errors, which occur after printing, a true printed tear is a press-stage event: the design was never applied where the paper surface was obstructed. These notes are valued not only for their dramatic appearance but also for what they teach about BEP mechanics. The strong registration elsewhere on the note confirms that the press was otherwise calibrated, making the tear itself the sole anomaly within an otherwise perfect production cycle.
Certified PMG 64 EPQ Choice Uncirculated, this example retains bright paper, crisp embossing, and outstanding originality. The sharply defined tear pattern on both obverse and reverse demonstrates the precise moment when physical distortion intersected with intaglio precision—a vivid artifact of the mechanical risks inherent to industrial-scale currency manufacture. For error specialists, it serves as both a textbook illustration and a visual spectacle within the modern Federal Reserve Note series.