How to identify counterfeit dollars.
There are special detectors in exchange offices and banks that use infrared and magnetic radiation to determine the authenticity of American currency.
But those who do not have tricky bank detectors should not be upset.
«The most perfect mechanism for checking the authenticity of the dollar is a person, » — says Antonina Volobueva, head of the press service of the Information Center of the US Department of the Treasury in Moscow.
According to experts, anyone can check the authenticity of the dollar.
In doing so, the following basic principles should be followed:
Paper
All dollars are printed on special paper, which is predominantly made of cotton and linen. This is far from the paper that books are printed on. And it can be easily distinguished. It is rough and velvety to the touch, almost like fabric. Also, the paper of real dollars is very strong and durable. It is not so easy to tear. The paper of genuine US dollars should be elastic to the touch.
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Paint
Dollars are printed using high-quality dyes. Therefore, the drawing on American money does not fade or fade. A very good way to check the quality of the paint is to rub the bill hard. If the paint smears or even slightly stains your finger, then doubts about the authenticity of the banknote are quite justified.
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Colored fibers
Real dollars have special magnetic inclusions.
In appearance, they look like colored fibers located in different places on the banknote. These fibers come in different colors — red, blue, black. Their distinctive feature is that the fibers are not painted on, but rather embedded.
On counterfeit tickets, protective silk fibers are sometimes imitated by pressing colored fibers onto the paper, as well as by printing or drawing colored strokes by hand, but are often completely absent.
In doubtful cases, a pin can be used, since a fiber scrap from a genuine ticket can be removed without damaging it.
It should also be taken into account that genuine paper may be used in counterfeiting, when everything printed on the paper of a genuine ticket of a smaller denomination is washed off with a chemical compound and the contents of a counterfeit ticket of a larger denomination is printed on a bleached sheet.
There are cases when the paper of a genuine ticket consists of two sheets glued together.
Usually in such cases, colored silk fibers are scattered between the sheets, which cannot be removed for testing with a pin without damaging the paper.
Imitation of fibers by printing, drawing or gluing on counterfeit banknotes is clearly visible when using a magnifying glass with a magnification of 4 or more, when the methods of applying pseudo-fibers to the surface of the paper of a counterfeit dollar are visually easily distinguishable.
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Portrait
One of the most common home-made methods of counterfeiting dollars is to simply draw zeros onto a low-denomination bill.
For example, turn a five-dollar bill into a fifty-dollar bill or turn a dollar bill into a hundred-dollar bill.
To avoid being scammed, it would be a good idea to know which president is depicted on which bill. If not by face, then at least by name.
A portrait is one of the most difficult elements to reproduce. It is usually impossible to achieve high-quality rendering of a portrait. As a result, small details of the portrait, especially the pupils of the eyes and the texture of the hair, are often lost on counterfeit and falsified banknotes.
To determine the authenticity of banknotes, a portrait is usually the main control point, since in counterfeiting it is extremely rare to be able to convey the subtleties of the engraving and the characteristic expressiveness of the face depicted in the portrait to any satisfactory degree, while avoiding clearly visible dirt or stains.
The background around the portrait, shaded with a fine grid, should look especially clean.
Usually on fakes this shading merges and the background turns out darker. In this case, as a rule, the portrait is retouched, which often distorts its distinctiveness.
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Frame
The frame, consisting of a mesh pattern, rarely comes out satisfactorily on counterfeit tickets: there are breaks in the lines, spots, sometimes the patterned drawings merge.
The thin lines of the pattern should be clear, without breaks and thickenings.
This is not always possible to achieve; careful drawing is required, during which the graphics are most often distorted.
It is extremely rare to find counterfeits with a satisfactorily executed mesh pattern of sufficient clarity.
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Drawing on the back
On the back, the main distinguishing feature is the characteristic bright green color, which is almost impossible to reproduce on counterfeit tickets. It is imitated with dark green, green-yellow or cloudy green paint.
The second feature is a frame of patterns, which usually has the same defects as when counterfeiting the front side.
The design on counterfeit tickets is poorly executed: some architectural and other details are missing, it is blurry, etc.
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Treasury Seal
The treasury seal on counterfeit notes is poorly reproduced in most cases — pale coloring, uneven teeth of the circle and primitive execution of the key.
In addition, counterfeit banknotes often have other significant distortions in the image of the seal: individual fragments are not reproduced, stars on the shield are obtained in the form of dots, etc.
Sometimes white strokes are observed, corresponding to the shading of the letters printed on the background of the seal.
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Serial number
The serial number must begin with the same letter that appears on the Federal Reserve Bank seal (from «A» to «L»).
Counterfeit tickets often have differences in the shape of letters and numbers, and their uneven clarity. The letters before and after the number sometimes differ in size from the numbers.
There are many cases when the serial number is the wrong color, and also has more or less than the eight required numbers.
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Control letter
The letter inside the seal, to the left of the portrait, must correspond to its serial number in the English alphabet, printed next to the seal on the left and three more times in different corners of the light part of the banknote (for example, «E» is the 5th letter of the alphabet).
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Printing methods
In most cases, this feature allows one to make an unambiguous conclusion about the authenticity of the banknote, however, determining the printing method requires the use of at least the simplest magnifying devices.
On genuine US dollars, images are printed using metallography (the back and the main image on the front) and relief printing (the bank seal and the corresponding four digits, the treasury seal and serial numbers).
Metallographic prints are distinguished by their gloss, high color intensity and pronounced relief and «sharpness» of strokes.
Almost no other printing method can produce a similar picture.
This technology is complex, as it requires special engraving forms and special printing equipment. On counterfeit banknotes, images are most often applied using flat offset printing.
In this case, the strokes, as a rule, are characterized by reduced intensity and some «sluggishness», created due to the small thickness of the ink layer.
When viewed with magnification, the offset part is characterized by the presence of multi-colored dots in the field of view, which together create the illusion of offset printing.
The presence of dots that form a pattern when examining a banknote with a magnification of 7 or more indicates an offset printing of the image, which indicates that the banknote is counterfeit.
The inscription at the top «United States of America» should be slightly convex and perceptible to the touch.
On banknotes that have been in circulation for a long time, you can see traces of an embossed pattern on the back along the perimeter (where dirt got in).
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The mentioned methods of identifying counterfeits apply to all US banknotes without exception.
But now it will be much easier to distinguish real American money from counterfeit.
Starting in 1996, the US Department of Justice began issuing new banknotes.
With the beginning of their widespread use, counterfeiters are in for some really tough times. The new banknotes are printed using state-of-the-art technology.
The new type of money will be protected by such advanced methods as printing ink with optical color change, microprinting, watermarks and other effective means of protection.
The new type of banknotes have a number of signs of authenticity that are really easy to notice without special equipment.
Microprinting
Since 1996, US banknotes issued by the Federal Reserve Bank have had an additional security feature — microprinting (the text «The United States of America» in small print) located on the lapel of the portrait's coat.
To check it, you need to take an ordinary magnifying glass.
Look at the portrait and the security strip through it.
They should have a very small inscription «USA» on them. plus the number or words «The United States of America».
The lower left corner of the $100 bill has the inscription «USA 100» duplicated, and the side border of the $50 bill has the inscription «Fifty».
Counterfeit tickets have an imitation of additional drawing or overprinting with gray paint, which can be easily detected by the absence of the text «USA 100», or by fraying the edge with a sharp object.
The test made with microprinting also becomes significantly distorted, and often illegible, which is clearly visible with a magnifying glass.
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Security strip
A security thread made of polyester material with the text «USA 100» («USA 50», «USA TWENTY») running vertically through the paper mass of the bill to the left of the Federal Reserve Bank seal.
On the $50 bill, it is to the right of the portrait and runs from top to bottom.
On the $100 bill, the security strip runs to the left of the portrait.
On the $20 bill, the strip is on the right edge of the bill.
This is done to prevent smaller denomination banknotes from being counterfeited as higher denomination banknotes by etching the number.
The stripe and the inscription on it must be visible from both sides.
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Watermark
Hold the banknote up to the light to make sure there is a watermark located next to the portrait.
The watermark must depict the same historical figure as the portrait.
The watermark is only visible in the light, since it is inside the banknote, and not just printed on it.
The mark must be visible from both sides banknotes.
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Color-changing printing ink
Look at the banknote from different angles to make sure that the ink used in the number in the lower corner of the banknote changes from green to black and vice versa.