Orlov Printing

Obverse

a relief image of the National Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation, above it along the rim the inscription in a semicircle ‘РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ’ (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) framed with paired diamonds on both sides, under the coat of arms are the chemical symbol and fineness of the metal on the left and fine metal content and the mint mark on the right, at the bottom centre in three lines are the inscription ‘БАНК РОССИИ’ (BANK OF RUSSIA), the coin denomination ‘3 РУБЛЯ’ (3 RUBLES), and the year of issue ‘2025 г.’ (2025).

Reverse

a relief image of the portrait of Ivan Orlov against the background of an image of a drawing of the printing press designed by Ivan Orlov, laser treated for matte finishing, and a coloured ornamental coating imitating the Orlov printing, the inscription ‘ОРЛОВСКАЯ ПЕЧАТЬ’ (ORLOV PRINTING) in two lines at the top right, and a facsimile of Ivan Orlov’s signature at the bottom.

Authors

Designers: E.V. Kramskaya (obverse), O.G. Shepel (reverse).
Sculptors: A.A. Dolgopolova (obverse), O.G. Shepel (reverse).
Mint: Saint Petersburg Mint (СПМД).
Edge: 300 corrugations.

Discover more

For over 130 years, many countries have been issuing paper money using the Orlov’s Printing that is a unique method of single-run multi-colour printing of banknotes invented in Russia. The Orlov’s Printing guarantees the exact matching of colours: a multi-colour pattern is formed by colour transition creating continuously coloured lines.

Ivan Ivanovich Orlov, an outstanding inventor, engineer, scientist, and an employee of the Expedition of Storing State Papers, began to work on a new method of multi-colour printing in 1890. He designed a machine for this printing method and a pneumatic sheet-feeder – a device for the automatic feeding of up to 120 sheets per minute into the printing machine. Ivan Orlov’s invention made it possible to receive a multi-colour pattern in one print run.

In 1892, Russian five-ruble banknotes came into circulation. It was the first time that the Orlov’s Printing method was used for banknote production. The banknotes became a sensation in the financial world. The Orlov’s Printing method won awards after the successful demonstrations at world industrial exhibitions in Chicago and Paris. In 1894, 10-ruble credit notes were put into circulation. They were produced using the Orlov’s Printing method, i.e. three colours were applied to the obverse and reverse of paper sheets with a common watermark. Letterpress printing was additionally applied to the obverse of the notes. Since that time, the Orlov’s Printing has become an integral and unshakable part of the paper money printing technique.

The printing technique invented by Orlov became increasingly common in other countries. Orlov received a German patent, and then French and British ones. The machine-building company Koenig & Bauer started serial production of equipment based on Orlov’s patent and paid Russia in gold for the idea. Nowadays, printing presses manufactured by the world-famous company KBA-NotaSys S.A. (Switzerland) bear the name of the Russian inventor ‘SUPER ORLOF-INTAGLIO’. These machines are used for banknote printing all over the world.

Sources: https://goznak.ru, https://museum.cbr.ru