Hard to tell from photos. since the green seal in the area of the missing black ink is light, it may have been abraided somehow or chemically attacked. Since the second printing and the third printing are seperate runs, it is unlikely that both had inking problems in the same area. I was thinking board break but it would not explain the light inking on the seal. Just MHO.
Looks like there was something in the way to me, as the inking is Completely missing in the one area, just my two cents..LOL
Thanks for the new photos. I'm still not convinced that this is an inking error. It would be difficult for that any area to be affected by 2 different color inks. Also a lot of other ink issues going on if you look closely. It could be an ink issue that I've never run across but the black and green discoloration and missing black ink have me puzzled. Here's what I see: 1-The right half of the Treasury seal is faded but not the left half. 2-The faded green ink does not matchup to the faded and missing black ink. 3-The 10 behind WASHINGTON, D.C. Is also faded. 4-The date looks a tiny bit fuzzy. 5-The 10 under the J in the left serial number and the 10 to the right of the signature both shows bleeding from the reverse or a transfer of ink from another bill. 6-The lower 20 in the right hand corner has bleeding from inside the 0 as compared to the other three corners. 7-Both sides of the bill show a transfer of ink or bleeding. It looks in fairly decent shape as it only shows a little wear and slight discoloration in a few spots. Please do not spend this bill and it is not damaged by the environment. Wait for others to chime in. Take yo your LCS or a nearby coin show and ask dealers for their opinion. A bill or coin in hand is so much better than photos, even the best of photos.
The first printing face had a blockage at the "twenty's" [black ink] right side, and it fell off after the process, it's my theory. If someone had tried to remove the black ink area, then there would more of the other [Green] ink removed too. Also, no fading of much of the other areas. If there had been more fading of the "Green" seal. Maybe someone has more idea. I was printer once.
The inks have different chemical compositions and can react differently when exposed to other chemicals, so it's possible for the black to be gone and the green only faded.
At frist I thought maybe someone put Scotch tape on it and removed it but the paper it's self don't appear to be damaged.
Remember the outfit in California that bleached $5.00 bills and color copied $100.00 on them. They passed every test due to federal paper. I suspect bleach was used to try and create an error. Without the bill in hand one can not be sure.
I'll have some one look at it. I received from gas station. Thanks everyone.. I'll post what I find out in a month or so..
On the other subject how do I find out more about the bleached money.. I have bunch old hundreds I should check
There are errors, when something is obscuring the note, and a big patch which should be inked, is white. In this case I'm not sure that's what happened. Since the green seal is lighter on one side than the other perhaps it was washed, or in regards to the TWENTY maybe there just wasn't a significant amount of ink on the plate at that spot/time. As Jersey said, the green seal and the TWENTY are 2 separate inkings. The fact that they both are affected indicates that the ink came off after. Just a guess.
Looks like it might have had a smudge of some chemical on the surface of the paper, so that the inks wouldn't adhere to the surface. Could have been KFC or McDonald's French Fry.
I can normally sniff out a fake but this one I am just unsure of. I think the only confirmation you will get is if you send it in to be graded professionally. If it is an error, it will be worth it to do so. If not... well, then you'll know. Normally that kind of error would be really hard to make but something about it seems genuine to me...