If someone offered you a fancy serial numbers HSBC HK$150 banknote, please be careful, the serial number might be fake. Hong Kong daily, The Standard, reported yesterday about a warning from Kowloon Philatelic Centre owner Choi Fong- cheung about the fake "fancy serial numbers" banknote.
A man entered his store on June 11 offering to sell him seven HK$150 banknotes with lucky numbers.
Choi said he did not buy the notes because he could tell the numbers had been expertly mounted. "At first he wanted HK$12,000 for the banknotes, but he later lowered the price to HK$9,000. But still, it's fake," he said.
It is believed banknote forgers are using a new process called banknote mounting, which borrows techniques from picture mounting.
Offenders cut serial numbers from one banknote to another, tricking people who purchase commemorative HK$150 banknotes, believing they have the perfect serial number.
"It was sophisticated," Choi said.
A special banknote with six consecutive and identical serial numbers can fetch about HK$20,000, said Choi.
People should be more cautious if they come across banknotes with special serial number combinations. To check whether the numbers are real, they should look at both sides of the banknote under a light.
A picture of what is believed to be a fake HK$150 banknote with the serial number AA368888 has gone viral in the mainland.
Headline Daily, a sister publication of The Standard, reported two people who claimed to have the real banknote with a similar unique serial number.
Banknote seller Hui Man-hong said he bought the banknote for about HK$10,000 on June 10 in Hong Kong. He claimed to have sold it to a female buyer surnamed Yip through a trading website in the mainland for HK$23,888.
However, another banknote dealer surnamed Chow, whose shop is in Dongmen in the Luohu district of Shenzhen, claimed yesterday he had the real note in his possession.
He said he traveled to Hong Kong on June 9 and forked out HK$500,000 to buy the commemorative banknotes. He unpacked his huge box of notes after he returned to the mainland and found the AA36888 banknote in his collection.
Chow tried to sell it for HK$28,888 at first, and then later lowered the price to HK$18,888, but no one made a bid.
He tried to prove the note's authenticity yesterday with an ultraviolet light and magnifying glass.
"My banknote is real, I don't mind testing it in front of people. But I think the fake ones flowing into the market will have a bad influence on sales."
Source: The Standard
