I was talking with one of my neighbors yesterday and found out that she had somehow ended up with a counterfeit 20 dollar bill. She’s not sure how she got it, but noticed that the paper didn’t quite feel right when she was getting ready to pay with it at the grocery store. After she got home, she did a little research online, decided that there was in fact a pretty good chance that the bill was counterfeit and ended up turning it in to the police. Sadly, it turns out that if you have a counterfeit bill, you will not receive compensation for it.

This story brings up a good question though… how do you spot counterfeit money? Here are some tips from the United States Department of the Treasury

* If you hold the new series bill (except the $5 note) and tilt it back and forth, please observe the numeral in the lower right hand corner as its color shifts from green to black and back.

* Hold the bill up to a light to view the watermark in an unprinted space to the right of the portrait.  The watermark can be seen from both sides of the bill since it is not printed on the bill but is embedded in the paper.

* Hold the bill up to a light to view the security thread.  You will see a thin embedded strip running from top to bottom on the face of a banknote.  In the $10 and $50 the security strip is located to the right of the portrait, and in the $5, $20, and $100, it is located just to the left of the portrait.

* If the bill is held up to an ultraviolet light, the $5 bill glows blue, the $10 bill glows orange, the $20 bill glows green, the $50 bill glows yellow, and the $100 bill glows red – if they are authentic.

* There is minute micro-printing on the security threads:  the $5 bill has “USA FIVE” written on the thread, the $10 bill has “USA TEN” written on the thread; the $20 bill has “USA TWENTY” written on the security thread; the $50 bill has “USA 50″ written on the thread; and the $100 bill has the words “USA 100″ written on the security thread.  Micro-printing can be found around the portrait as well as on the security threads.

* Very fine lines have been added behind the portrait and on the reverse side scene to make it harder to reproduce.

* Compare the feel and texture of the paper with other bills which you know are authentic.

Here are some more tips on spotting counterfeit money from the US Secret Service Website.

Of course the next question is what do you do when you think you may have a counterfeit bill or are given one. Keep your own safety in mind first. Don’t try to return the bill to someone of questionable character. Handle the bill as little as possible (stick it in a plastic bag when you get home), and remember as much as you can of the person who handed it to you. Then call police or secret service as soon as possible.

Tags: counterfeit money, how to spot counterfeit money

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 11:25 am and is filed under Tight-Fisted Thursday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.