I am mainly a coin collector. There are some pretty good counterfeits of the older, more valuable coins. Now I am thinking of buying a $500 bill. My question/concern is how hard is it for these to be counterfeited ? Are there many counterfiets out there ? I have some very good copies of recent $20 bills, and these $500's were printed before any of the new security features were put in place. Or maybe I am wrong, maybe its harder to create an undetectable copy than I assume. Just wondering, because I would hate to pay $1300 for this bill if there are a lot of good counterfeits out there. It is a PMG graded bill, so I am pretty sure it safe, but just wondering in general if you should avoid non certified bills, or if counterfiets are even an issue with paper currency ? Thanks in advance for any replies.
You have the right idea. Buy them graded to avoid counterfeits. PMG is a good choice. Despite the lack of security features, counterfeits of antique paper money are uncommon. They won't be made for circulation, because retailers are much more cautious about older notes nowadays. It's certainly possible to create a counterfeit for the collector's market, but the knowledge needed to successfully pass them is unlikely to be found among average counterfeiters. Knowledge of plate numbers, sheet positions and serial number ranges are necessary to make a good counterfeit. There were some large-size counterfeits created by foreign governments. See: http://www.cointalk.com/t222175/ Counterfeit errors are probably the biggest problem. But familiarizing yourself with the printing process will help you identify which kind of errors are possible and which are not, and which kind of errors can only come from the BEP and which can be made afterwards.
