On 9 October 2012, The Star news reported about a lecturer in Tawau, Sabah who own a RM10 Zeti banknote with an Agong mirror image. From the picture, we can see the face of the first Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong imprinted on it twice. The second portrait of Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad can be seen on the clear panel on the left side of the note. After almost a month waiting, today Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has been replying about the Fake error banknote RM10 Agong with mirror image via The Star your opinion section. En. Shariffudin Khalid said that the RM10 banknote is a genuine third series banknote, the mirror image portrait of the first King is a reproduction using a colour printer on the genuine banknote.
Nowadays, people are more interested in looking for extra income, I had seen many fake error banknotes on sale online for the past few years. In the future, I do think more fake error note will be coming into the market. Receiving that error note from bank is not a way to confirm that the notes are genuine error note. Sometimes, when the counterfeiter make a mistake when they are trying to make the error banknote, they will be using the notes to buy items. Its not that hard to do a counterfeit error banknote nowadays. The counterfeiter will be using the genuine note and remove or add some of the notes details to make them an error. With today technology, you can learn how to do fake thing with just a search from Google. The most common fake error note is they're removing Agong image from the note. Collectors pay thousands of ringgit for error like this, it is an opportunity for cheaters to make money. Some people will not realize that they has been cheated until they get a second opinion on that matter.
Here is the original reply by BNM on this matter:
Imprint of portrait was printer reproduction
WE refer to report “Seeing Double” (The Star, Oct 9). Bank Negara Malaysia has checked the RM10 banknote that had two imprints of the portrait of the first Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong which was highlighted in the report. Based on our verification, while the RM10 banknote is a genuine third series banknote, the mirror image portrait of the first King is a reproduction using a colour printer on the genuine banknote.
Therefore, we would like to inform members of the public that the banknote has been deliberately tampered with. Members of public in possession of such banknotes are encouraged to return them to commercial banks to be replaced with a banknote of equivalent value. This will be subjected to the criteria as outlined in Bank Negara Malaysia’s Guidelines on Quality Standards for Malaysian Currency. We would also advise members of the public who have received such unfit banknotes to check with Bank Negara Malaysia.
For further enquiries, please contact Bank Negara Malaysia at 03-26988044 ext 7307/8252 or email to ncs@bnm.gov.my.
SHARIFFUDDIN KHALID
Director, Strategic Comunications Department
Bank Negara Malaysia
source: The Star view.
Next time, when you're buying an error banknote, try looking the error note at a different angle for note with extra image like this. For missing Agong picture, try sniff the note for any weird chemical smell. Nowadays, collector need to be extra cautious when buying their collection. They're a lot of fake item coming in the market. Some dealer even sell them and when you told them that it is a counterfeit, they will said they don't have any knowledge about that.
