[null and void]

I ask them who are they trying to fool? The checkout clerk at the gas station, or the Federal Reserve? It’s not making the fakes that’s difficult. It’s spending enough of them before you go to jail to make it worth doing that is difficult. They will catch you. You will go to jail. It’s just a matter of time.

Excellent answer!

You might also point out that the new printers and copiers that they bought have software that detects attempts to copy/print banknotes, and will tattle on them...

[live+let_live]

” You might also point out that the new printers and copiers that they bought have software that detects attempts to copy/print banknotes, and will tattle on them...”

Interesting story: I had a customer who wanted a marble pattern in the background of a brochure. He brought in a 12” x 12” piece of green marble floor tile to scan. The tile had green and black colors, very similar to the color variation of money. (This was about 6 years ago before the Fed’s changed the color of our money). My scanner wouldn’t correctly scan the color. It came out black and white. I’ve never before or since had the same problem. I always wondered about that.

[Dasaji]

You might also point out that the new printers and copiers that they bought have software that detects attempts to copy/print banknotes, and will tattle on them...

Guess I should have scrolled down to see your answer...so it IS true!

[A knight without armor]

I would think that some copiers are good enough to accurately copy the image of a bill but the texture of the paper....who has bill paper? Not like you can go to Office Depot and get reams of money paper. I think my fingers would quickly detect a funny money feel way before I could notice anything with my eyes and I doubt I could do that very well. If you bought a fancy copier for your home I don’t see how it could tattle on you. What’s it going to do? Slip a note to the bug man?

[samson1097]

"new printers and copiers that they bought have software that detects attempts to copy/print banknotes, and will tattle on them"

The way that copiers detect bank notes is based on something called the "EURion constellation", which is a pattern of circles patterend similarly to the Orion Constellation:


If you have a $20 bill handy, you will see they are expressed as the zeros in the repeating "20" on the back:

It's also on the Euro and almost every other major currency in the world:

[okie01]

You might also point out that the new printers and copiers that they bought have software that detects attempts to copy/print banknotes, and will tattle on them...

Moreover, since their inception, xerographic copy machines have automatically reproportioned the original image, by a factor of about 2%.

That's why vending machines won't accept xerographic copies of bills.

Indeed, it was a necessary step for the copy machine manufacturers to avoid being prosecuted under the counterfeit laws -- wherein making or possessing the engraving (or reproduction equipment) is the underlying crime.

For example, you can use an illustration of U.S. currency in an advertisement...but you can't use a photograph. And it's not taking the photograph that is the crime, nor is printing the ad in a publication. It's the making of the printing plate.