How to check the money for authenticity? Protection of money from counterfeiting

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

There are a lot of scammers in this world. And some of the most inconspicuous and at the same time malicious are counterfeiters. Their activities lead to numerous losses and inconveniences. To avoid unpleasant moments, you need to know how to check the money for authenticity, which we will do in this article.

General information

Usually, only high-quality counterfeit banknotes are produced in large quantities. But to calculate a good fake, having the right information, is still not a problem. Since the advent of money, there has been a confrontation between those who issue them officially and the so-called counterfeiters. Modern banknotes have such sophisticated security features that most of them can be checked using special equipment.

There is a constant need to verify the genuineness of banknotes in the absence of a person (for example, in a payment terminal), so automated methods are constantly being improved. The article will focus onmanual ways. First you need to know the definition of the authenticity of money. This is the name of the means that are manufactured outside the authorized state structures, in violation of the accepted procedures and means of ensuring protection. So, how to check the authenticity of the money?

Without technology

Money has a lot of defense mechanisms. But not all security elements can be counted in digital form, and for a number of others there are no exact criteria. The most accurate is considered to be an examination by an expert, that is, an ordinary person with knowledge and experience, which everyone can become. The number of human-readable signs of a real banknote is constantly growing. Here are the most popular:

1. Watermark. This is a special pattern that is created by changing the density of individual parts of the paper. Looks good in the light. Watermarks on banknotes are perhaps the most well-known form of authentication.
2. Security thread. This is a special tape made of metal or polymer material, which is implanted into paper. Can use simple and diving threads. The peculiarity of the second is that it comes out of the paper and plunges into it.
3. Microprint. A very small special symbol that can only be seen with a magnifying glass.
4. Protective fibers. They are patches of threads of different colors and are embedded in paper. Can be plain or woven.

Other human signs

Here are more ways to check money for authenticity:

1. Microperforation. It implies the presence of special holes of a very small size, which are made by a laser in the process of making money. They make up an inscription or a drawing. Holes can be viewed by light. An indicator of quality is the inability to feel the relief around them, as well as the absence of traces of charring.
2. Relief printing. These are special inscriptions and drawings, they can be distinguishable by touch. The seal is used not only for protection, but also to help the blind in choosing the denomination of the banknote.
3. Kipp effect. This is a separate corrugated area on paper, on the god faces of which a special pattern is applied. It is easy to distinguish only when viewed from a certain angle.
4. Hologram. A 3D holographic image that rotates when the bill is tilted.

Less known signs

And this is how you can check the authenticity of the money, if you train this skill:

1. Overlapping images. In fact, this is a special pattern, in which the constituent elements are located on opposite sides of the bill. But if you look at it in the light, then they will coincide, forming one whole.
2. Oryol seal. This name is understood as a set of thin lines that change their color without visible interruptions in printing and overlaying paints. It should be noted that this effect cannot be achieved by conventional multicolor printing methods.
3. Foil stamping. Drawing made using this material,layered on a bill.
4. Special moiré stripes. They have different colors when you tilt the banknote.
5. Optical variable dye. Changes the spectrum of displayed waves, depending on the viewing angle.

Here's how to check the authenticity of bills without having any complex technical equipment.

Machine-readable features

This is a set of characteristics and features of banknotes, on the basis of which machines decide whether they are genuine notes or not.

1. Banknote size. The dimensions of banknotes cannot be considered as a security feature. Nevertheless, many detectors check this parameter first. Thanks to this, they reject scraps of banknotes, foreign objects or simply folded money. This characteristic helps to recognize a specific currency and its denomination. To determine the size, an optical method and scanning in the light are used.
2. Visible image. The external image of the banknote is scanned in a special light. The disadvantage of machines is that they do not check the entire surface, but only certain areas. Although photodetector rulers can be used to correct this shortcoming.

Working with light and fields

More ways to determine authenticity.

1. Infrared image. This is one of the main characteristics. When banknotes are printed, metameric inks are used for them. And with infrared illumination, light and dark objects in the image are clearly visible. Also in IR Machinecan recognize security tapes, metallic elements, watermarks, such as the emblem of the Bank of Russia. Infrared light allows you to determine the optical density of paper, which is used as a sign of authenticity.
2. UV tags. They are applied with phosphors. They can only be seen under ultraviolet light. Protective fibers are coated with phosphors. During the check, you also need to monitor the paper. If it does not have a background glow, then this also serves as proof that the bill is genuine.
3. Magnetic tags. The banknotes are inked. But not ordinary, but special, with magnetic characteristics. Labels are divided into soft and hard. The former lose their magnetic properties after the external field is turned off, while the hard ones retain this characteristic for a long time.

Special Items

These are quite interesting, unusual and little-known protection mechanisms.

1. Special "AND" element. It is an anti-Stokes phosphor. Its feature is that it can emit a glow. The wavelength exceeds the excitation radiation.
2. Special element "M". Its specificity is the absorption coefficient that is different from most similar types of paints in various regions of the infrared spectrum. That is, if you illuminate a bill covered with this substance with different lights, you will get the impression that the element is blinking.
3. Secret signs. A number of characteristics that are used to determineauthenticity. They are kept secret to make life difficult for counterfeiters. Signs can only be verified by the Central Bank.

Checking funds

Let's say we have a 5000 bill. And it was decided to check it out. Suddenly it turned out that there was no certain protection. What to do? Is it all that bad? It's too early to draw premature conclusions. If there is no one or even several complex defenses, then this does not mean anything. It may fade over time, or the examiner may have too little experience to perform a quality check. To verify this, just go to the nearest payment terminal and send it to your bank account. If everything went smoothly, the nerves were wasted. Therefore, a 5000 bill or any other can be the real one. If the ticket of the Bank of Russia was not accepted, this is already problematic. You should contact the police with a statement, remember all the details of getting a banknote into your hands. After all, it is still unknown how many such tickets of the Bank of Russia are being prepared for reset.

Homemade method

So this article is coming to its logical conclusion, in which it was considered how to check the money for authenticity. The case of counterfeiting, of course, causes condemnation. But in the end, I would like to talk about boasting. There is an opinion that it is impossible to make money identical to the official ones in a handicraft way. Despite this, the American currency has been counterfeiting for quite some time.someone Omega. How do we know it's fake? The fact is that Omega products are identical to banknotes issued by the US Treasury. With one small exception: Omega letters are always located in the internal space R in the word dollaR.