The Facts About Counterfeit Money

Everyone loves to see money rolling in but we all expect it to be real money! Counterfit money is a very real problem for ordinary citizens as well as for businesses. The newer money is designed to discourage counterfeiting, but the skills of the crooks have evolved as well.

All currency in the US (coins and paper money alike) is the domain of the U.S. Treasury Department. They have many tips for consumers and businesses to help them determine if the money you have is real or counterfit. Good observational skills is the first line of defense against counterfitting, but there are currently new devices that can be used to determine the legitimacy of money you may receive.

The Treasury Department suggests that you take a bill you aren't too sure is valid and compare it to one that you know is real currency looking for details that are different. A magnifying glass will really help. Examine the facial features of the portraits as the real bills will have more realistic appearance with sharp lines and good contrast. Funny money may have pictures that seem dull, smeared or rather flat.

The next things to inspect are the seals for the Federal Reserve and United States Treasury. Real money will have seals that have a pointed, saw-like border which is distinct and well-defined. Seals on counterfeit money on the other hand will often have broken, missing, or ill-defined edges and may be a dullish color. Also look out for blurriness in the scroll patterns.

An excellent point of reference is the serial number. Counterfeit money often uses a font that does not quite match real money. It also may use a slightly different color ink. Real money will use even spacing between the characters which will also be perfectly aligned. Also the color exactly matches the color of the seals.

Paper used for US bills is a unique type of formulation and has specific colors laid in so it can be identified. It can only be used for money and not copied or imitated for any other purpose. Sometimes, rather than trying to manufacture paper to match it, people bleach the lower denomination bills then print higher values on and try to pass them off as real.

The most blatant way of counterfeiting money is to cut the corners from higher denominations and paste them on lower denominations. The Treasury lists as an example a one dollar bill with the ten dollar corner piece pasted over the one. While it seems like this would never work, it is surprising how many times people accept even obviously counterfeit money when they are in a hurry. Infrequently we find coins that have been faked and generally these are only the very rare ones.

The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing has decided it needs to update and redesign American currency every seven to ten years in order to keep ahead of the counterfeiters. The newest bills are printed in using numerous colors and include many sophisticated security features.

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One thing to remember is to not let happiness at receiving money blind you to the fact that it might be counterfeit. Ordinary consumers can be victims of this fraud as well as businesses. While advances at the Treasury have made it more difficult for money to be counterfeited, the criminals are always working hard to find ways around the Treasury's roadblocks.

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