CONTACT PRINTING APPARATUS

A master tape and a slave tape are driven so that successive portions of each are brought into substantial contact with successive portions of the other at a printing station. A printing magnetic field is applied to such successive portions while they are in substantial contact with each other at the printing station, so that data on the master tape is copied onto the slave tape and the slave tape becomes a copy of the master tape. A single master tape can thus be employed to produce a plurality of copies. A counter counts the number of copies thus produced, and an indicator provides an indication corresponding to the remaining life expectancy of the master tape.