How Common Are Counterfeits?

The likelihood of a counterfeit large $1.00 or $2.00 note being graded by a TPG company without being identified as a counterfeit is fairly small.

I have been warned both in books and verbally that counterfeit and fake Confederate notes are VERY common.

That is a pity.

I would love to collect these, but I do not have anywhere enough skill in identifying fake or counterfeit from genuine.

This looks like the appropriate thread for this post.......here goes.

One of my brothers routinely finds modern star note in all denominations. He handles a lot of cash and knows about my collecting interests. Normally he only saves me star notes in AU/CU condition. Today was different. Picture a park setting, very shady on an overcast day and he hands me a circulated, generic 2009 $20 and says " I thought you might like to have this". At first glance and feel you would think it was genuine. Knowing my brother wouldn't bother me with a note like this, I held it up to the light and did not see either a security strip or watermark. When I compared it with $20's in my wallet you could easily see a darker tint, both front and rear between the genuine currency and the counterfeit note.

I agree. If paper currency disintegrates in the wash, it probably was printed on common wood pulp paper and not cotton/linen paper, like our paper currency.