Counterfeiting money has become virtually a game for everyone involved. Governments do their utmost to secure their currency, whereas criminals utilize technology to their advantage to outwit, not the government, but other institutions that accept currency and may not be as up to date in the security procedures in place to defend it.
However, this is why the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is always working to enhance US Dollar designs so that they are “resistant to increasingly sophisticated counterfeit attacks” and to educate both businesses and consumers on how to avoid phony bills.
What to know about counterfeit bills
The first thing to know is that there are currently seven different denominations of US currency banknotes in circulation and in print: $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100.
Other denominations were previously used and are remain legal money, but they are rather uncommon, with the majority now in collections and significantly more valuable than their printed value.
The bills that are currently in print differ from other legal tender notes that are no longer active in that they are periodically destroyed when they become too damaged to remain in circulation, and they are redesigned on a regular basis, with changes made to improve their security rather than their appearance.
Redesigns to improve security are not a simple and easy process; rather, they are a series of processes that take place over time (according to the BEP, the last redesign required more than ten years of research and development) and are implemented gradually to ensure that all measures are accounted for and detectable by retailers and financial institutions that accept the majority of cash transactions.
The most recent denomination to receive a makeover was the $100 note, which was first printed on October 8, 2013, and the remaining active currency denominations will follow suit in a staggered manner, with new releases occurring as follows: $10 (2026), $50 (2028), $20 (2030), $5 (2032) and $100 (2034)
The BEP states, “This sequence addresses risk mitigation and counterfeiting concerns.” However, no bill is 100% counterfeit-proof.
The Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence (ACD) Steering Committee, which includes stakeholders from the BEP, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Reserve System, Treasury, and the US Secret Service, works hard to ensure that the new designs are difficult to replicate and that any counterfeit bill is identified and destroyed, but it is difficult to control given the volume of bills that change hands every day.
This is why education is so crucial, and why the redesign process is followed by years of optimization and integration testing before being successfully implemented into banknotes for public use.
It takes time to ensure that the government has enough new equipment or raw materials for full manufacturing, as well as that these substances are managed in such a way that thieves find it difficult to obtain them in sufficient quantities to justify counterfeiting.
Following that, the BEP warns Americans that “extensive acceptance testing is required to ensure they meet rigorous manufacturing and quality standards at production volumes.”
This is significant because, according to the US Department of Treasury, an estimated $70 million in counterfeit notes are already in circulation. This may be an optimistic estimate, as other analysts believe the sum is closer to $200 million considering its global significance as a reserve currency.
And last, but by no means least, how to detect a counterfeit US dollar bill
- Check for color-shifting ink.
- Check for raised printing.
- Look for hazy borders, printing, or writing.
- Look for red and blue threads on the bill.
- Check the watermark.
- Check the security thread.
- Check new $100s for security ribbons.