Question From Newb About Paper Money

Resist buying any errors until you know more about them. They are easy to fake and people do it all the time. My advice would be read, read, read about them. Seal colors, print errors, cutting errors, etc can all be faked.

There are a few things that you can do. Only buy from reputable dealers for starters as they will never sell you a bogus note. They will also be very helpful and work with you if you have a problem.

If you stick to graded notes from either PMG or PCGS you can avoid those bogus ones. Avoid graded notes from companies like CEC (yellow holder) they are bogus and just slab notes with outrageous grades on them to fool inexperienced buyers. Research is a good thing too. There are people referred to as "note doctors" that buy old slabbed notes, cut them out of their holders clean them (a no-no) and sell them to unsuspecting buyers as a high grade note. When the top TPG slab a note that has been cleaned it will no longer have the PPQ or EPQ by the grade. Those terms are used to refer to the paper quality.

Don't make large purchases early start slow and work up to more expensive purchases as you get more familiar with the tricks of the trade. If you get fooled on a note you only paid $10 for what harm did it really do? You learn a good lesson for a few bucks instead of a few hundred