How to check the dollar for authenticity. What denominations of banknotes are counterfeited?

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

The US dollar has long been one of the most popular currencies in the world. Its turnover is huge, and you can exchange it in almost any country. At the same time, the US Treasury claims that the number of counterfeit bills is very small - 0.01% of the total. This is due to the fact that this currency has a reliable system of protection against counterfeiters, and its production methods are very difficult to reproduce. Do you know how to check the dollar for authenticity? Study the article carefully, and you will be almost impossible to deceive.

What denominations of banknotes are counterfeited?

Most often, counterfeiters are interested in the $100 bill. And recently, violators of the law take a real bill of a smaller denomination as the basis for a fake, bleach it, and then print the famous portrait of Benjamin Franklin on it. This turns out to be a fairly realistic fake if you don’t know how to check the dollar for authenticity. Another similar way is to add zeros tobanknote.

Are there counterfeit banknotes of smaller denominations?

Yes, $10, $20, and $5 notes are counterfeited and distributed to homeless people who don't know how to check a dollar for authenticity, or to low-income areas. The purchases made by the new owners of the fake are very small, and the sellers do not pay attention to the bills, so they can be easily sold. But in order to accept 50 or 100 dollars without suspicion, the bearer of money should look much more presentable.

The safest in this regard are 1 and 2 dollars. They are unattractive to scammers, so the system of their protection against counterfeiting is much simpler than that of other denominations.

How to distinguish a real banknote from a fake one?

Here are a few ways to check the authenticity of dollars, so as not to fall for the bait of scammers:

• The banknotes of the new sample (with the exception of $5) have elements with color-changing ink. To see them, take a banknote and tilt it back and forth, while the number in the lower right corner will turn from green to black.
• One of the easiest methods known to check if a dollar is genuine is to look at the watermark. It is visible through the light on both sides of the bill, because it is not printed on a specific side, but is included in the structure of the paper itself.
• The portrait on the banknote and its water image must match. If the $100 bill was counterfeited by bleaching, then you will see an image of Abraham Lincoln that is printed on $5,instead of Benjamin Franklin. It looks like this:

Plastic protective tape. It is also visible in the light from the front of the banknote. On $10 and $50 the security strip is to the right of the portrait, and on $5, $20 and $100 it is to the left of it

• This band on genuine bills reacts to ultraviolet light: $5 has blue, $10 is orange, $20 is green, $50 is yellow, $100 is rose red.
• Serial number. It is unique for each bill, it must be printed evenly and clearly, and twice - on both sides of the portrait.
• Microprint. Real bills have features that can only be read under a magnifying glass, such as the inscriptions around the portrait and the banknote denomination on the security strip: 5 dollars - USA FIVE, 10 - USA TEN, 20 - USA TWENTY.

Paper, paint, printing

These are three more degrees of security for each banknote, making it very difficult to counterfeit. Dollar paper is dense, but thin, rough, interspersed with blue and red stripes that are not printed on top, but are included in its structure. It is made from textile fibers - cotton and linen, and not from ordinary cellulose, which gives the bill a characteristic texture.

How to check the authenticity of dollars if you have a banknote that you are sure of and doubtful? Compare the tactile sensations from both, and if one of the bills is a fake, then the difference will benoticeable. This is a very simple but effective way.

The ink on the surface of a real bill protrudes slightly above the paper, all lines are clear and bright. Very thin strokes are deliberately used on the portrait and border of the banknote, it is impossible to repeat such print quality without unique equipment.

How to verify the authenticity of the new $100?

Because this banknote is the most attractive to fraudsters, since October 2013, the US government has issued a series of banknotes that are extremely difficult to counterfeit. It is designated Series 2009. Its distinguishing features are:

1. Wide blue 3D protective tape to the right of the portrait. It is visible from an angle. Attention! It should not be confused with the usual thin ribbon, which on this bill is still located to the left of the portrait.
2. The copper-colored ink bottle features a bell that changes color from copper to green as it moves.
3. To the right of the portrait, phrases from the Declaration of Independence and an image of the pen that was used to sign the document so dear to the heart of every American have been added.
4. On the reverse side of the banknote, its denomination is depicted very large so that it can be easily distinguished even by people with poor eyesight.

However, the appearance of new banknotes does not mean that the old ones have lost their value. The US government has no plans to withdraw them, they are still usable for payments.

Where to check dollars for authenticity

If you still havethere were doubts about banknotes, they can only be dispelled by machine methods of verification using special detectors.

Using infrared and magnetic radiation, they can "see" special signs and magnetized zones, which confirm that the banknote is real. If you want to check the authenticity of dollars in a bank, then be prepared to pay either a small fee for checking each bill, or a percentage of the total amount. Moreover, not all financial institutions provide such a service.