Design

Uniface

Uniface (a una cara)

Uniface describes a note, proof, or specimen printed only on the face, with a blank reverse. It is not a missing-ink error in circulation: it is a shop decision. Hernández notes that proofs are often uniface; the BanRep specimens in this collection, by contrast, are printed on both sides and then overprinted. The Giori Lincoln Memorial test note, ca. 1970s, is the uniface example in the United States miscellaneous case: green, with no serials or seals and an empty back.

The ABNC Hipotecario and Riohacha proofs are recorded as a face/back pair (p1 and p2), each side in its PMG 61 holder: they are not uniface in the Giori sense, but two printings from one printer’s order. Confusing that pair with a single uniface sheet would mix objects. A remainder with a red back, such as the Canal Bank, is printed on the reverse on purpose.

Photographing the blank back is part of the record: it shows that a face was not omitted. The Giori is not legal tender and not a Federal Reserve Fr. The term links proof, specimen, and reverse, so that an empty back is not read as a scanning fault or as a circulating Pick.

Uniface is not a synonym for proof. There are two-sided proofs and two-sided specimens. The Giori is uniface because the press was trialled that way; photographing the empty back is the evidence of that decision. The Hipotecario p1/p2 pair shows the opposite case: two faces, two holders, one ABNC order. The Canal Bank red back closes the contrast.

See also: Obverse , Reverse , Proof / essay , Specimen , Giori test note

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