Questions About A Counterfeit Bill I Found

I have one counterfeit note in my collection. A series 2009 $20 note. I wasn't aware it was illegal to have a counterfeit note in your collection. I know it's illegal to try and use it. I keep the note in a currency sleeve with a sticker that say "COUNTERFEIT" so my heirs don't try and spend it.

As far as a rubber stamp goes, which I don't recommend, just Google 'custom rubber stamp' and many online sources will fill the page.

Recently I made a post in reference to counterfeit $100 bills. They are actually able to get through this system by the pen and also by the machines that they have at the stores that they run them through. They have been appearing on the East Coast alot lately. I don't think it's smart to post photos if you're going to keep it. It is actually illegal to keep them I don't think you'll be arrested if you keep one lol And as a former person of law I couldn't be bothered by you calling me for a $20 bill. If you do try to pass it off in the store you could be arrested.

Under US federal law, just possessing a counterfeit note and keeping it in a collection is not illegal (unless your state has written specific laws making this illegal in your jurisdiction); it only becomes illegal when "intent to defraud" comes into play - so if you try to spend it or sell it, knowing that it's fake, without telling the person you give it to that its fake. There is no legal requirement to deface it or otherwise ensure future owners are not fooled by it.

Note that while you can "possess" a counterfeit note, you can't "own" it. Making it was illegal for whoever made it, and the act which caused you to originally obtain it was illegal (the counterfeiter would have fraudulently received goods or services in exchange for the counterfeit) - so technically it's a result of the proceeds of crime, and you aren't supposed to be allowed to keep the proceeds of crime. For insurance purposes, it is literally only worth the paper it's printed on.

Nevertheless, if you wish to keep it, reporting it to the Secret Service might not be wise; they might request you hand it over, and you would then be obligated to comply with that request, and they are not obligated to give it back to you after they finish looking at it (since, as noted above, it's not legally "yours"). They might decide to give it back to you, if they are satisfied it won't help them with their investigations and that you really are a "collector" with a valid reason for keeping a counterfeit note for education purposes. The Secret Service might also want to know why you chose to wait so long before reporting it, since prompt reporting would have increased their chances of catching the perps.

As for the question of permanently marking it, if that's what you want to do, I would suggest that making a custom rubber stamp just to stamp a single note would be wasteful; unless you're a store owner that handles lots of cash, you hopefully won't need such a stamp ever again. Just write "counterfeit" on it with a permanent pen.

Thank you Sap, for clarifying the legal issue of possessing a counterfeit note. And in my gut, I felt that an agency would take it. If they followed the procedure as described by Ynnad, that would be a consolation prize. Cool, but in my eyes not as cool as having the actual counterfeit to display.

To be clear, I have had the note for some time, but only determined it was fake in the last week. I will most likely find some way to mark it as such. I would like for its deceitful journey to end with me. The person that made it gained something for it illegally. Since it stayed in circulation, I am the one that will lose monetary value. However, I have used it as an aid in learning. I'm not sure the lessons learned are worth $100, but I feel that it is close. If it gets loose into the wild again, the next end of the line recipient may not be in as fortunate position as myself.

I could write on it myself, but my handwriting and printing skills are visually ugly. Using a stamp would look cooler. Maybe if I set up my printer to print over the note? If I can make it work, I will post it here.