Comments on: Counterfeiters Passing $100 Bills in Montana
By Chad on 03-12-09
The fed prints monopoly money, why shouldn’t our amigos to the south? Just heard Lou Dobbs state the Pentagon may shoot down a N. Korean missile in the next couple..Baxter has infected homeless with their combo bioweapon/regular flu vaccine.. China getting annoyed with the USA destroyer running sub surveillance. Time to shoot Mexicans on sight? Goodie! ..if only I could find some ammo..clubbing folks is so boorish.
By James Conner on 03-12-09
The so-called counterfeit detection pens contain iodine. If applied to paper containing starch, the pen’s mark turns dark. Genuine Federal Reserve Notes do not contain starch and therefore do not react with iodine.
But the pen test has flaws. If the counterfeit uses paper that is sans-starch—a bogus denomination printed on a bleached one-dollar banknote, for example—the pen produces a false negative. And if a genuine banknote contains starch—Federal Reserve Notes are printed on paper that is largely linen, and can be starched and ironed—the pens can return a false positive.
Fortunately, there are other, and I think better, ways to detect counterfeit $100 bills. The current series contains a security strip that fluoresces red under ultraviolet light. Other security features include watermarks, fine line printing, micro-printing, red and blue fibers embedded in the paper, and, as noted by the sheriff’s office, color shifting ink. I would rely on a magnifying glass and an ultraviolet light, not an iodine pen.
The appearance of the fake $100s is interesting, for the information released thus far suggests these bogus banknotes were produced on a printing press, and might be the product of a Latin American criminal syndicate. That they are not quite good enough to escape detection means they are a nuisance, not a threat to our currency.
By huh on 03-13-09
So be on the lookout for Mexicans driving a California car. Wait a minute. We already were on the lookout for Mexicans and Californians.
Remember back when we were wary of natives sith “38” license plates? I like them more than ever now. I’ve noticed that somehow they have more money than white people lately.
The last time counterfeit money was a problem here it was only $20 bills. Remember that? The circus was in town. From Las Vegas.
By Tony on 03-13-09
Gee, that would be hard to find. Mexicans in MT driving cars with CA license plates. Do the cops profile here? That’s business as ususal in CA. Not here! Run em off the road if you see them and call 911.
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