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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,914 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5857 Posts |
All right, this may be a truly stupid question, but here goes...
I know that in recent years the government has come up with all sorts of ways to make bills harder to counterfeit, like watermarks, holograms, security stripes, etc. And all of this is necessary since, as I once heard, the older bills could be almost perfectly copied by any kid with a computer and an inkjet printer.
The thing is, though, that bills from 20-30 years ago are still perfectly legal tender, aren't they? If somebody really wanted to make counterfeit money, couldn't they just copy bills from the 1980s and spend them just like a modern bill? Do any banks or stores refuse to accept older bills because they don't have all the security features that modern bills have?
For that matter, I have to wonder how easy it is to make counterfeits of all the wonderful older bills we all love to collect (silver certificates, "funny back" notes, etc.) Sure, nobody would think of spending them, but if they are really that easy to copy it makes me wonder whether any of the ones I have collected are, in fact, real. Obviously, a well-worn example is more likely to be legitimate, but the problem is that I try to find examples in really nice condition...
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5857 Posts |
Nobody? Gee, I hope I haven't inspired everybody to rush out and start copying old bank notes...  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7840 Posts |
I was going to say that "copying" old bills would be easier than trying to replicate some of the "technicolor" bills. But then again, "small heads" would probably draw more attention than the "new" stuff floating around.
Edited by oih82w8
01/27/2012 11:40 am
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Moderator
 United States
188952 Posts |
Using a small head now and then should be easy, but regularly spending them would get someone's attention. Even if they were not counterfeit, they could be seen as an old untaxed stash of ill-gotten gains.
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Moderator
Australia
16842 Posts |
Stores, and even banks, are perfectly within their rights to refuse to accept old notes. And I suspect many more of them would exercise those rights if there were news stories about counterfeit old-style notes beginning to flood the market.
Counterfeiters aim to design fake notes that don't attract attention. Someone spending an obsolete note (or a whole bunch of them) will attract attention, whether the notes are counterfeit or not. So it's probably worth the while of the counterfeiters to try to make modern notes that don't automatically draw attention to themselves.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
United States
162 Posts |
I have heard anecdotes from people on these boards about cashiers getting immediately suspicious when they spend an old note, but I've yet to hear of anyone who had them outright rejected. As far as collectibles go, I think there's a big difference between the quality required to fool a cashier and that need to fool a knowledgeable collector or dealer.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2168 Posts |
My husband received and 'old' 20 in an ATM machine a few weeks ago. They can be spent and received a $5 bill just last week in change. There are 2 of the newer types out there of all but $100 and ones. As an aside any word on those New $100s with all the printing issues. Were supposed to be in circulation a year ago. I know it was a terrible mess
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
Quote:
Stores, and even banks, are perfectly within their rights to refuse to accept old notes. What are you meant to do with them then (theoretically)? Surely they're exchangeable somewhere. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2168 Posts |
I have never heard they are unacceptable. Some may not recognize but should not be refused. Some old bills can't be read for ATM deposits but will be with a living breathing teller
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
You can always have older notes exchanged for current notes, just like having old coin exchanged for current coins (but then where's the fun of any of that? :-) ).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2168 Posts |
Anyone with new information on the redesigned $100s that had printing problems
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,914 |
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Posted 01/27/2012 10:17 am
