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To: TheLion
Anyone know why they mark bills at Best Buy?

The pen ink changes color if the paper is wood based. Genuine bills are printed on cotton rag.

68 posted on 04/07/2005 3:11:51 PM PDT by dread78645 (Sarcasm tags are for wusses.)
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To: dread78645; TheLion
The pen ink changes color if the paper is wood based. Genuine bills are printed on cotton rag.

The pen is actually testing for the presence of bleaching agents in counterfeit currency.

140 posted on 04/07/2005 4:29:11 PM PDT by Hank Rearden (Never allow anyone who could only get a government job attempt to tell you how to run your life.)
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To: dread78645

The use of markers dates back fairly recently to the discovery of super bills. Those were counterfeit $100 bills that were so good that they passed the federal reserves scanners without getting kicked out. The counterfeiter used the same paper by bleaching out $1 bills, the same ink and the same presses the Bureau of Engraving uses. Besdies that they all had different numbers. That kicked off the currency changes in this country starting with $100s and working down.

My guess is the marker somehow reacts to the residual chemical used to bleach the paper.


165 posted on 04/07/2005 5:27:00 PM PDT by meatloaf
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