Some of my nicest newest finds, including a possible counterfeit note... ;(

Check out some of my most recent finds. I know a couple members on here that have been wanting to see these scans:
Here is the first one in question:
1988A $1 E74576408N CHCU strap find. I believe this note to be a counterfeit. Anything I would normally do to check if a $1 FRN is real failed on this note. For an instance, I tried lightly scratchcing the shirt George is wearing in the portrait. If you scratch a normal $1 FRN, you will feel a texture to it. The same can be done with the 4 corners of the front of the bill. The bill also feels too white and is too see thru for normal. The ink on it is even slightly shifted to the left (just slightly) as you will see on the scan below. I have a counterfeit detection pen for times like these, but I am scared to use it in case the bill is real, it currently grades CHCU. That pen would probably bring down the grade... What I would like to know is, why on earth would anybody in their right mind want to counterfeit a $1? I guess for fun? I did find this bill in a hippy town, so who knows what those guys get up too. Lol.



Any speculations on this bill would be highly appreciated.

Okay, onto some of my more normal finds:

First off, my newest $50 addition:

I'll give this guy an XF. It is of course a teller pick up. Note the no "In God We Trust" on the back as well as what Clay was nice enough to point out, the extra parking lot on the bottom left corner of the back. Once again, thanks for pointing it out Clay!! I would have never noticed...

Here are all of my newest $20's:
from my teller
...............................................................................

 

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Thanks for posting scans, but they are way too small to see anything you are describing, especially the supposed counterfeit. A lot of members host images on Photobucket, which offers free accounts. Images hosted there are not resized as much as CT's uploader scales them down when hosted on CT. Try scanning the notes again, at 300 dpi if you didn't do that already in your settings, and set the longest size of the image at no smaller than 600 pixels wide.

If you feel you have a counterfeit note, you should send it in to the Secret Service for review. As I understand the procedure, if it's not fake then they do return the note eventually. I believe somewhere on CT there is an image of a returned note. Let us know how it turns out for you, but try to post bigger scans before you send it away.

Counterfeit Note Report Form [PDF]


From: How to Detect Counterfeit Money from Secret Service's Know Your Money


As for why someone in their "right mind" would do this, well, supposing as you have, that they were in the right state of mind, you're assumption is already invalid. For the counterfeiting of U.S. securities is a crime, and therefore those parties having counterfeited money are 'criminal minded', hence, not in their right state of mind.

For whatever biases you may have towards certain neighborhoods and just because you came across said note when surrounded by peoples whom you clearly hold such biases towards, especially in that place, then it would be safer for you not to allow your bias towards them to outright suggest/pass judgement on them until you have proof the note is fake and better evidence of an operating counterfeiting ring for U.S. securities in that locale. If it's such an objectionable zone of questionable people, you'd be doing your greater community a service by helping to rid the area of such a threat by submiting the note for review by the SS. Perhaps you, your transactions and money are safer spent elsewhere until then too.

 

If he sends it in it tells him to initial and date in ink in the border for identification.

 

one of todays teller grabs..
teller grab
another one of todays teller grabs...
teller grab
2004 EG00258791* teller grab
2004 EA00242075* (640k run) teller grab
2006 IG06162065*-IG06162067* consecutive CHCU teller grabs
2006 IG06162057*-IG06162061* consecutive CHCU teller grabs
2006 IG06161996*-IG06162000* "
2006 IF*
2006 ID77797978A and ID00014454B both strap finds
2006 IG51581118E strap find

 

That's the procedure and the price to pay for a secure currency now isn't it. Should also make one think twice about how adept they really are at detecting counterfeits!

 

As for my $10's:
teller grab. The funny thing about this note is the only other 1969A $10 I have ever pulled from circulation is the same block that my sister got from Maine for me 2 years ago! IMO, it's pretty cool to find the same block, series, and denomination 2 years later over 3k miles away!

teller grab
my first 1993 $10 from circulation teller grab

2004A GL08828233* strap find
2006 IG00543913* (640k run and hard to find) teller grab
2006 IL57575597B strap find
2009 JD03773077A strap find

 

I think for a counterfeit check like that, it might be better for me to take a picture with my camera. Maybe I'll even take on with the light shining thru the bill for you guys to see just how transparent the bill is? I'll do that in a little bit.

 

Yes, back light can help reveal aspects about notes. Good idea to use every tool at your disposal before you have to send the note in marked with ink.

 

My newest $5's:
View attachment 158582 View attachment 158583 my oldest strap find
View attachment 158588 my first 1988 $5, not 1988A...
View attachment 158594 I've been looking for a nice example of this particular block anyhow. The trinary part is just an added on bonus.

2006 IL00574751* (640k run and hard to find)

 

And last but not least:
This is a teller grab. My first red seal $2 from circulation. I was very pleased to see it in the pile of bills to pick from.

 

Oh, who could forget? This is the only $1 recent find worth mentioning:



Also: 1988 EC, 1988A EJ & BI, and a 1993 GE, all $1 strap finds. I have more low serial numbered $1's and star $1's as well a nice handful of trinaries, but people don't seem to take much of an interest in those so I'm not even going to post them.

 

Krispy,

Thank you for your help and advice. Here are some pictures of the notes with my kitchen lights going thru it. I'm not sure if it will help.
Try these out for size and let me know how they work out...

 

Unfortunately, those photos aren't very useful. We can't see anything about the note, like those critical details and close ups we need to see what you are seeing in hand.

If you have a way to back light the note as if on a light table that will work better. You will also need to block out the back ground so you can post the largest image size of the note as possible.

Try putting a sheet of paper against a window (not with direct sunlight coming through) and then rest the note against the paper, shooting pictures with this filtered daylight coming through the paper may work better. Otherwise, try to lay a sheet of clean smooth paper with no patterns, color or watermarks in the paper, over a sheet of Plexi or glass, put a lamp behind the glass and the note on the opposite side. You will have to adjust your white balance on the camera most likely. The frame of your photo should also crop out as much of the background as possible, and even more so in a photo editor afterwards as you don't need to have all that background showing.

There's an example of a back lit note I made in this thread: French échantillon notes

 

I'm looking on line and some people are saying that the ink in the real dollar bills have iron particles in them, and so are magnetic. They suggest folding a bill in half so that 1/2 stands upright, and taking a strong magnet and seeing if the top portion is attracted to the magnet. If it is, it's a real bill. You would have to use a strong magnet (not the refrigerator type though).

I would think, though that you could duplicate this by creating a pocket where 1/2 of the bill is held in place by the pocket (upright) and then doing the magnet test.

 

Since this is a forum of currency collectors, and we typically discourage creating folds on notes, I would not approach this with such suggestions taken from random ideas posted on the internet that care not for note preservation. Until we can see this note there's really not much we can discuss about it on this forum.

 

Actually, I did not encourage the use of folds on notes. I said what I found on the internet, and then made the suggestion to create a pocket that holds the note (unfolded, I thought was clear) upright in the pocket, so that you could then test the note. That in my mind would not put any fold in the note.

I would never suggest purposely folding a note that is collectible.

 

Nonetheless, a method in which folding a note in half was described in detail. I caution against that. I don't understand, nor is it clear what your pocket method entails. Perhaps you can explain or illustrate what is in your mind a little more clearly. At any rate, magnetic ink could also be faked, so it wouldn't be a fail safe diagnostic for detecting fake printing. Like I said before, until we can see this note with a higher resolution scan, there's really not much we can discuss about it on this forum.

​

 

Those are nice finds tBud!
Boy that would be a tough call! On one hand it would be neat to own a counterfeit as a collector, and on the other hand the righteous goodie two shoes in me would turn it in STAT. It's actually like finding an unregistered machine gun in your grandfathers attic. Neat and all, but you couldn't shoot it or show anyone else without some unintended legal issues.
I once had a friend who found a $10 counterfeit, and wouldn't shut about it! The freaking moron even framed and hung it in his living room. I wish I knew if anything came of that?
Is there a possibility it was printed on faulty stock? I have a green eagle that is printed on a noticeably thinner piece of stock. I'm sure the BEP has a thickness range, and it could be on the fringe of that scale?

BTW: Back when my mom worked as a bank manager she could feel counterfeits by counting through a strap - and I mean fast!!! lol 20+ years of handling currency can give you that super power. One day I was with her when she received a counterfeit $10 from an ATM. She just took over to the closest bank, and filled out a form and we left. They normally won't have you waiting around for the COPs unless you try to pass it purposely or accidentally.
...and yes you lose the money if your the last one to receive it without knowing it. Reason #1 why everyone and not just businesses and banks should know how to spot a fake!

 

Thanks for posting these scans, Travis.

Don't really know what to say about the suspected counterfeit, other than, it seems pretty unlikely that somebody would bother to fake a $1 bill, but, hey....some people have way to much time on their hands, I guess.
I hope you're able to figure out for sure, whether it's genuine, or not. How did you acquire it? Was it a strap find?

If I had a note I suspected as a fake, I would just bring it to my bank, ask them, and specifically request the branch manager. Usually folks that have been in the banking business for a while, are quite good at spotting fake notes, without using the pen.

As for the other notes, nice finds, as usual.

 

It wouldn't be a tough call for me. I wouldn't waste a postage stamp to mail it in to the SS or the gas to drive to and turn in a fake one dollar bill to a bank. I am under no obligation to do so and why should I bother? Just to have it taken without reimbursement? I don't think so. It is not like finding an unregistered machine gun in your grandfathers attic, this is comparing an apple to a gigantic pumpkin. This is not North Korea or Iran, this is the United States. You can show off a counterfeit as much as you want, you just can't attempt to spend it. I was in Miami earlier this month and I went to a shoe shop and the owner had a counterfeit $20 bill hanging up for everyone to see. Does this make him a moron as well?

I believe Travis has the experience and knowledge to determine whether his dollar bill is legitimate or not and may do a better job at determining authenticity better than most people who work at a bank can, anyways. There was a posting on the wheresgeorge forum two months ago where someone inquired about a questionable $100 bill that they had. The person brought it to a bank to get it checked and they were told it was authentic. It turned out to be fake! What gave it away was that the plate numbers and serial prefix letters were all off. Amatuers on a currency tracking website were able to determine it was fake by looking at a black and white scan but paid bank employees were not by looking at the note in person.