What Are Banknotes Made Of? Cotton, Linen and Plastic
U.S. dollars, euros and Brazilian reais are not printed on ordinary paper: they use cotton fibers, and the dollar adds linen. Australia pioneered banknotes made of polymer, a type of plastic.
Most banknotes are not made of ordinary wood-pulp paper but of cotton fibers. U.S. dollar bills are a blend of 75% cotton and 25% linen, while euro notes and Brazilian reais are printed on cotton-fiber paper. Other countries print money on polymer, a type of plastic, an idea that Australia pioneered.
Why not use ordinary paper?
A sheet of notebook paper falls apart after a few folds, a day forgotten in a jeans pocket or a trip through the washing machine. A banknote, by contrast, passes through thousands of hands, gets folded, crumpled and stuffed into damp wallets, and still has to stay intact and recognizable for a long time.
Cotton fibers are long and strong, so paper made from them stands up to far more wear. The European Central Bank says that pure cotton-fiber paper gives euro notes their distinctive crispness and wear resistance. Brazil's central bank, introducing its second family of real notes, likewise points out that this paper feels firmer and rougher than ordinary paper.
There is a security reason, too. Special paper that you cannot buy at an office supply store is harder to copy, and some of the features that help identify a genuine note are added while the paper itself is being made.
What is the U.S. dollar made of?
The dollar is the best-known example of a note that is not just cotton. According to the official U.S. currency education program, the paper is a blend of 75% cotton and 25% linen, the fiber taken from the stem of the flax plant, the same plant used for linen fabric.
That mix gives the dollar its own particular feel, and the same official material tells people to feel the paper as one way to check whether a note is genuine.
What about euros and other currencies?
In the euro area, according to the European Central Bank, the Europa series notes are printed on pure cotton-fiber paper. The ECB says 11 high-security printing works across Europe produce the notes.
In Brazil, the central bank's training booklet on the second family of the real states that the notes are printed on fiduciary paper made of cotton fibers. In practice, that means paper made specifically for producing money, not something sold in ordinary shops.
Paper texture even appears on Brazil's official checklist for inspecting a note. The booklet groups the checks into three actions, look, feel and discover, and lists raised printing and the texture of the paper under feel, alongside features such as the watermark and the security thread.
Under discover come the features that take a closer look: a holographic stripe, a number that changes color, a hidden number, fluorescent elements and microprinting. Several of them rely on special inks and printing techniques applied on top of that cotton paper.
What are plastic banknotes?
The other big family of banknotes is made of polymer, a type of plastic. According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, the country issued a polymer 10-dollar commemorative note in January 1988 to mark Australia's bicentenary.
The technology was developed jointly by the central bank and CSIRO, Australia's national science agency. Between 1992 and 1996, Australia replaced its entire series of banknotes with polymer ones. The goal, the bank says, was to make the currency more secure against counterfeiting, and polymer notes are also more durable than paper ones.
Since then, other central banks have adopted the material for some or all of their notes. Many countries still stick with cotton, including the United States and the euro area, and each one weighs cost, durability and security when choosing.
Does the material change how you check a note?
Quite a lot. On a cotton note, the watermark and security thread sit inside the paper and show up when held to the light; on a polymer note, the security features are different, designed for plastic. That is why the first step is knowing what your currency is made of. It also explains why some notes feel crisp and papery in the hand while others feel smooth and slightly slippery, even before you look for any specific feature.
The details for each currency are in our guide on how to spot counterfeit money. And for a reminder that paper money is a recent invention in the long history of exchange, read about where money came from, from Mesopotamian accounts to the first paper money in China.
