Heat pressing uncut US $2bills?

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Nikodeumus

Nikodeumus

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
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Loc
Comox, BC, Canada
I have a full sheet of uncut US $2 bills that has been rolled for quite some time.
Wondering if heat pressing to flatten would be considered "acceptable"?

Doing some cursory research it appears that serious collectors do not recommend ironing US (and other) paper currency.
I saw some suggestions of steaming , but I am not going to risk such processes.

For now I'll just try the "heavy weights" method. No heat.
It won't do any harm.
 
It should be made of 75% cotton, and 25% linen. It would be fine to iron under low heat, imo. The inks are the only thing at any minor risk. Maybe I like to dance close to the fire, but I would probably end up putting it in the heat press under low heat and see what happens.
 
Ironing or using a heat press can be two different things.
Using an iron could be putting a high heat on a small area. Maybe not good.
Using a heat press, especially if it is heat/vacuum will spread the pressing over a large area and if you use a release board or sheet should not present any issues.
I wouldn't suggest steaming...:shutup:
 
I don't know how low a heat press will go, but 130-140° should not be a problem for genuine US $$. A car interior parked in the sun in the USA southwest, or run through a clothes dryer will easily get to that temp, and if people were burning up $$ by one of those methods I'm pretty sure we've heard about it.
 
If you DCO mount it, all you have to do is unroll the sheet. No heat or steam needed, neither of which are recommended
 
How about a de-roller? They’re not cheap but they’re basically just a roller blind, which is exactly what I used to use!

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David Waldmann said:
I don't know how low a heat press will go, but 130-140° should not be a problem for genuine US $$. A car interior parked in the sun in the USA southwest, or run through a clothes dryer will easily get to that temp, and if people were burning up $$ by one of those methods I'm pretty sure we've heard about it.
Click to expand...
dasGoog tells me that money burns at 450 degrees.

450 degrees F.

Fire Rating American dollars burn at a temperature of 450 degrees F. So if a safe is left in flames hot enough for long enough, the interior of the safe can reach temperatures high enough to cause paper money to combust. The fire rating of your safe lets you know how long it takes for that to happen.
 
Roll it the opposite way of the curl onto a cardboard tube and let it sit for an hour or so, tho I agree that the heat press at a moderate setting won't hurt it.
 
Do a test run with one of your dollars in the heat press to see how it reacts if you are unsure.
 
Thanks for the tips all. 👍

Flattening is primarily my own concern to make it easier to handle and lessen the sheets desire to curl when in the frame.
The customer is ok with "I'll do what I can without risking harm"
So perfect flatness isn't critical at this time.

It is a full sheet of uncut mint condition bills.
DCO was offered, but rejected because of cost.

Yesterday I placed the sheet in a folded release paper enevolpe, warmed up a release board to about 140d, placed that over the covered bills, then covered with 6 lengths of tempered glass shelves to evenly weight it.

Will see if that helps.
Reverse rolling is my back up plan.
 
I'd be curious what would happen to the security strip on any larger bills, but $1 and $2 bills do not contain those.

Steaming, Ironing, and Pressing....seems awfully close to Laundering.
 
My pressing plan worked pretty well.
Reduced the curl enough that the piece isn't trying to "fight" to get back into a roll.
Still has a very minor wave when under mat, but not enough to be visually distracting.
Because the customer doesn't want any of the image area to be covered by mat there is only about 1/8" under the mat lip.
Used 2 ply Rag inset mount under a single 4 ply top mat with extra space to allow for expansion/contraction.
Then museum glazing with 1/8" clear spacers just to be certain the bills don't touch it if they do get wavy.
 
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