I work at a bank and a customer turned in this bill he got while running a concession stand. Of course it immediately caught my attention. What is odd is the serial number and seal seem to be untouched, but the rest seems bleached out. Do you think this bill may have been bleached for someone who was possibly going to make it into a counterfeit higher denomination bill? I think it's a real bill since I can still slightly see the fibers in the bill, but hard to tell with any other diagnostics. Thoughts?
I'm a novice in paper money, but it's possible that the bill was printed with minimal amounts of ink, and then the serial was printed on after the original printing. Well see what others think
I'm only guessing here, but notes are printed in steps using different colored inks. Possibly the green and black still left are a result of that. Otherwise possibly run through a washing machine.
Ok, let me clarify. The fibers in the paper look bleached too. I can see there are fibers, but the red and blue colors don't stand out. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
It is not an error note. Washing machine is my guess too. Why not try it at home next time you wash "whites" w/bleach?
Different types of inks are used for the components that make up the face of a US dollar bill. Each type will respond differently to environmental or chemical exposure. Counterfeiters who bleach notes (and I use that as a generic term as I don't know what chemicals they use) would have completed the job and not left this partially done. There were notes that were p rinsed with defective ink that faded or flaked off like this on the face but not on the back. This looks like it was probably dry cleaning or other harsh substance. Under inking on both sides is unlikely.
I didn't read any comments but the OP but yes you could be on the right track with the bleaching idea. I work in retail and have seen many altered bills where the original was bleached out and e new denomination was printed onto it. Some of these fakes are very hard to detect when a cashier is running $20,000 through a register a day. They try and pass these off at slow times or early weekdays. Most wait for busy time of day, weekends, holidays. They use them to buy merchandise they can return with a receipt and often make them into $10's as they aren't checked like $50's or $100's would be. Most of these are done by small timers who spend a couple hundred at a time. Now this might not apply to your note but it is very common.
I just asked my buddy who was in the Secret Service and now works for the Treasury Department. I asked him if he thought it could be a bleach job for a counterfeiter, and he said: "Probably not unless they were going to use a pre 1990's version of a higher denomination bill. $1 do not contain water marks so it would not be effective unless it was pre1990's also known as an "old bill". Could be somebody experimenting to see if they can bleach correctly without using a more valuable bill. Without being able to see it in person it would be hard to tell." Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
Right and even more detail than I gave. That's why they use $10's mostly although I've seen $10's bleached because they do have the security strip and changed into $100 but big bills are scrutinized pretty closely so they have to do a more scientific and artful method. Criminals are generally good at what they do. Again most of these notes are done to be passed a few at a time not like the briefcases full you see on TV shows. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have handled many bills that have been washed in people's pockets in a washing machine. This one does not have the same consistency as those. Usually they are very flimsy and wrinkled. This one is not like those. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
Maybe someone applied bleach all over it and somehow preserved the numbers and seal. I don't know, that's why I posted it here. But there are usually certain things you can rule out by observing the bill in person. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
