Counterfeiters already rolling out bogus $20 bills, authorities say

Sac Bee ^ | 11/8/03 | Jim Suhr - AP

[StatesEnemy]

Pay "entitlements" with hyper inflated dollars. I'm confident I'll get back every penny I've put in Social Security - a hamburger may cost $3500.00, but I'll get every penny...

As a bonus we'll all be millionaires...

You overlooked the fact that we will also be svelte.

Afterall, can't be too rich, or too thin....

[punster]

Oh! I thought the Bureau of Printing and Engraving was the official United States Counterfeiting Office.

[Inyo-Mono]

Actually, counterfeiters didn't engrave the bills by hand, they shot a negative of $20 a bill on a 20 X24 camera and then painstakingly opaqued the negative to clean it up (filling in pinholes)before making a printing plate from the negative. The very fine engraved lines of the original bill would often fill in when this process was used and it was almost impossible to a perfect copy. The Treasury Dept. used to keep a close watch on photoengravers.

[WoofDog123]

"What is the purpose in purposefully and unnecessarily devaluing US currency by the US government?"

The currency is being redesigned due to exponential advances in computer/printer techonology. With 1988 and earlier bills, I don't think it is readily possible for many people to detect counterfeits anymore. I have seen $100's from 88-earlier (no thread), and I honestly couldn't say if they were real or not. They were very new looking, in any event.

[WoofDog123]

"In the 2001 fiscal year, $47.5 million in counterfeit bills got into circulation in the United States, the Secret Service says. Of that amount, $18.4 million - or 39 percent - were phony computer-generated notes."

Implying the rest were actually printed? I have read that N Korea does this, have also heard that some come out of colombia.

[Yardstick]

I see -- thanks!

[Maelstrom]

Detecting counterfeit bills today is a matter of materials testing, not appearance.

This reasoning for the new bills, while official, doesn't wash well. Sure, it could be that everyone responsible for this is a moron, but it's hard to accept.

[WoofDog123]

"This reasoning for the new bills, while official, doesn't wash well. Sure, it could be that everyone responsible for this is a moron, but it's hard to accept."

Just thinking out loud, but maybe they want to appear to be doing something to keep public confidence in the legitimacy of the paper money they are holding up.

There are countries where certain denominations are so well counterfeited that said denominations are not welcome, highly scrutinized, etc. In panama, US$50 and $100 have become so well copied that MOST places will not accept them without you signing with ID versus the serial number of the bill. Of course, $50 is nearly a weeks pay in Panama as well.

Until materials testing is so easy to apply that every person can carry their own, and said test isn't going to be defeated 3 months after it is released, it just won't work.

Corrolary question - If you were paid a decent sum of money in primarly 1988-and-prior $100's (no thread), would you be comfortable accepting this?

[FreePaul]

I was behind a man checking out today. He paid with a whole fistfull of strange looking twenties. I made the joking comment that I wouldn't take any strange looking money because I wasn't used to it. The clerk took it without question. I can't believe that she was that well trained in recognizing good vs counterfeit bills.

[Maelstrom]

There is an instant materials test for the old 20's.

Many retailers use it.

I, personally, am very good at spotting conterfeit dollars very quickly.

I think I've put 3 counterfeiters before the Secret Service already. Idiots...I pointed out the store security camera in the old "look at that" trick. Then told them what it was...nice mug shots.

[BlueNgold]

I have begun to see small electronic scanners at checkout counters that mimic the actions of vending machine bill readers. When a bill $20 or larger comes in the cashier places the bill on top of the reader, pushes a button, and gets a red light/green light response immediately. Send this one to the 'Why didn't I think of that?' file.

[TruthNtegrity]

This is absolutely true. The more you handle the real stuff, the easier it is to catch the counterfeit. (Interestingly, I once heard an interesting sermon on this by the now Bishop of Central Diocese of FL. His argument was, why study the devil and his ilk, when if you know the real, if will be easier to recognize the false?) True with money, for sure.

I have been handling bills since I started my vending machine business 10 years ago. Even though I'm just counting them, and not really "checking" them for forgeries, I can catch them in an instant. Same for coins. I can "feel" the difference if it is Canadian, or S. American, or a slug, even before I look at it.

But with the busy holiday season upon us, I imagine that it will be easier to pass these bills.

And the person who mentioned that changing the bills devalues it abroad is absolutely spot on. I fail to understand why Pres. Bush and Sec. Treasury Snow feel it necessary to devalue our currency.