[Non-Sequitur]

Nothing in the article makes it clear (to me, at least) that it isn’t the North Koreans. They have the motive and opportunity, you are questioning the means. It is interesting that a lot of the bogus currency has been traced to North Korean diplomats. Like I said, how else does he finance all those Mercedes and Hennessey?

Let me ask you this. What better way to find out who or what is funding North Korea than to distribute bank notes and watch where they go to? North Korea doesn't have the means to generate hard currency, yet they come up with it. If you make 10 different versions of the $100 bill, each perfect except for one single, minute, deliberate flaw, then distribute these notes through 10 different channels, wouldn't the version(s) the North Koreans are caught with identify who was funding them?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The North Koreans have absolutley no need to protect their currency since anyone capable of counterfeiting it would choose a better currency to copy.

I simply do not assume that a nation that can produce ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons cannot produce counterfeit currency.

I sort of dismiss the CIA theory because of the likely consequences if such a plot were discovered. You can mark genuine currency. What things of value would the CIA exchange for the purported counterfeit currency?

Since even this muddling article admits that North Korean diplomats have distributed the super notes, excuse if, when I hear hooves, I expect to find a horse, maybe a mule, a burro or a donkey, but rarely a zebra.

[catfish1957]

Interesting topic. I have read somewhere that our currency security is the most high tech in the world, even to the point they have 8-10 layers of "fail safe" If the technology has gotten out of our hands, how did it happen, and why?

Secondly, its there any truth (urban legend) that the mint (printing office) has CIA connections if needed to encode the strips on the left sides of the bill.