Do you know how to detect counterfeit US Dollars? Almost every country in these world accept US Dollars as a medium of exchange and the dollar became the most dominant currency in the world. If you received a fake US Dollars you will be losing your money, you can't spend it and you don't get a refund. Reading and learning about counterfeit money are the best way to avoid a loss on your side.
In this article, I will teach you how to detect a bogus dollars bills. You don't need experience to check for a low quality fake US Dollars bills. What you need are knowledge about the differences between a genuine banknotes and a fake banknotes.
How to detect counterfeit US Dollars:
Feel the raised ink
If you received a new dollars bill, you can feel that the genuine note has slightly raised ink that is produced in the intaglio printing. Look for the words "DOLLARS" on the bill and touch them with your fingers, you should feel a texture of the ink.
The genuine portrait appears lifelike and stands out distinctly from the background. The counterfeit portrait is usually lifeless and flat. Details merge into the background which is often too dark or mottled.
Federal Reserve and Treasury Seals
On a genuine bill, the saw-tooth points of the Federal Reserve and Treasury seals are clear, distinct, and sharp. The counterfeit seals may have uneven, blunt, or broken saw-tooth points.
Serial Numbers
Genuine serial numbers have a distinctive style and are evenly spaced. The serial numbers are printed in the same ink color as the Treasury Seal. On a counterfeit, the serial numbers may differ in color or shade of ink from the Treasury seal. The numbers may not be uniformly spaced or aligned.
Paper
Genuine currency paper has tiny red and blue fibers embedded throughout. Often counterfeiters try to simulate these fibers by printing tiny red and blue lines on their paper. Close inspection reveals, however, that on the counterfeit note the lines are printed on the surface, not embedded in the paper. It is illegal to reproduce the distinctive paper used in the manufacturing of United States currency.
Border
The fine lines in the border of a genuine bill are clear and unbroken. On the counterfeit, the lines in the outer margin and scrollwork may be blurred and indistinct.
Security Thread
Large denomination bills have a security thread with a printing on it. This is to prevent lower denomination bills being bleached and reprinted as higher denominations.
- 5 dollars bill USA FIVE
- 10 dollars bill USA TEN
- 20 dollars bill USA TWENTY
- 50 dollars bill USA 50
- 100 dollars bill USA 100
Look for changes in color
You can check any $10, $20 or $50 banknote and tilt it (move it back and forth) to check for their color shifting ink. If the bill's are genuine they will change from green to black for an old notes or from copper to green in the recent designs.
Ultraviolet light
You can also check the notes with an ultraviolet light. Each denomination glows in its own color.
- 5 dollars bill glows blue
- 10 dollars bill glows orange
- 20 dollars bill glows green
- 50 dollars bill glows yellow
- 100 dollars bill glows red
Look at the watermark
A watermark bearing the image of the person whose portrait is on the bill can be found on all $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills series 1996 and later, and on $5 bills series 1999 and later. The watermark is embedded in the paper to the right of the portrait, and it can be seen from both sides of the bill.
If you received a $1 and $2 bills, it most probably a genuine notes since counterfeiters rarely try to make these bills. Three in every ten thousand US Dollars bills is counterfeit but around 75% of the fake bill is found and destroyed before it ever reaches the public.
Source: United States Secret services
