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 Replies: 12 / Views: 2,400 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2850 Posts |
Found this 1985 $20 bill while working the register the other day. I quickly traded it out.  Has never been folded and it's still crisp.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1227 Posts |
Oooh, Gruver, lucky!! I got a $10 like that a couple of weeks ago--it had one not-sharp fold down the middle (the kind where if you put it in a book for a week, it'll flatten out with no crease and no wear).
I'm going to ask because of the level of wear and because of the fake I saw at work recently--did you check this for silk fibers and intaglio printing?
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
I'd be wary of any old bills uttered in this age. Printers are just too good now. In Canada we used to have these squarish holograms on our Birds Series notes that would turn colors from yellow to green. But the fakes couldn't turn two colors and they scratched off like lotto tickets. Today I don't know if they can duplicate them well because I don't see them circulate as we have pretty much adopted using only the Journey series and the new polymer series. But it makes you think that if people readily took them if criminals would simply counterfeit the old series - but then that's why series get changed to keep ahead of the curve.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1227 Posts |
Libertad, there are still some easy ways to tell if this is real--the rub test, the printing, and the fibers. That latter is the hardest thing to copy and I've NEVER seen a counterfeiter get it right.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
Well, Nina, we're pretty educated on the matter. But if you're in a dark seedy bar and get passed a fifty, that's a different story. It only has to pass through the 1st person to get into the public's hands. We will scrutinize, but most people in business may not in the hopes of just getting a sale.
If the counterfeiter doesn't get one thing right they always get the other 5 right and we don't always check every test possible, sadly. The note only has to look "sort of alright" at first glance because we only look at it for a split second, and that's all it takes. If it doesn't look funny in the first one and a half seconds then it's "fine" and poisons the money supply. That's my take on it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1227 Posts |
This is true, although I would never have enough money to get a fifty in change in a bar  I do look for every possible security mark on high-denom bills, though--it only takes a second, if you know what you're doing. That's why I asked if OP had checked for those marks. I got a "1950" fake the other day that I posted about and I knew it in an instant, and quickly educated my coworkers on what a real 1950 should look and feel like. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Arab Emirates
557 Posts |
While managing a store that rhymes with Tears, we had quite a few counterfeit 50s and 20s run through our registers. During the Holiday season, there is no time to scrutinize every bill.
Cashiers are supposed to run the marker across them, but get too rushed and forget. You're right Libertad, they only have to look right at a glance. Heck, some of them look right after heavy review.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
You work at deBeers?
j/k
Anyways, with a photo like this one (OP) the note looks fine. It is sort of fuzzy, and I'm not trying to make fun of your camera. I'm saying that at first glance your note looks the way it's supposed to look.
Actually what you say is a good indicator that it's legit. Most counterfeiters will try to make the bill look old and used to increase its acceptability b/c "hey, others took it as money so I should join the crowd also".
Anyways, how often does this occur? Must've been someone cleaning out their birthday money from 24 years ago that has never been spent.
Edited by Libertad
12/26/2012 11:55 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2850 Posts |
I don't see these these old bills come in very often and was even more surprised that it was crisp. Once in a while I'll see a $1 bill that has an older date, but not higher denoms like this. I did check for the fibers and they are apparent. I apologize about the bad photo quality. I took it with my iPod touch since my scanner is not plugged in and running at the moment.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5858 Posts |
*sigh*
I guess it's a sign of my age, but I still have trouble thinking of these bills as being anything special. They're just the way $20 bills are supposed to look! But then I realize that 1985 really was almost 30 years ago...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1227 Posts |
For what it's worth, Barry, I'm only 24 and it's still slightly odd to me that some people perceive these bills as "ancient." The large heads were introduced when I was in third grade, whataya mean you "don't know" this bill?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
959 Posts |
The first time I saw one of the large head bills, I was accepting a COD from a customer for more than $3000 in cash, in a seedy part of town. Did a double take and decided it better to take the money and leave, than question it. I was collecting then, but was not keeping up on what was going on in the money world. I was always looking over my shoulder after receiving large amounts of cash.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1227 Posts |
Got THREE of these today. Some woman just inherited a bunch from her mother, who apparently hoarded them. I invited the lady I got them from to join us--she's all excited over what she's got. |
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Replies: 12 / Views: 2,400 |
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Posted 12/26/2012 7:48 pm
