Counterfeit Prevention Measures in World Currency Today

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Governments around the world have been revamping their currency to protect against the threat of counterfeiting that has become a serious problem in the past few decades

With the advent of powerful consumer image editing software, cheap high resolution scanners, and low priced computer equipment it becomes easier and easier every year for counterfeiters to duplicate the designs and images found on modern currency. The threat of counterfeit currency is no laughing matter to the governments of the world, who have taken measures to ensure that their money is as difficult to replicate as possible. In this article we will discuss a few of the methods they have used to undermine the efforts of counterfeiters worldwide.

The United States government in the late 80s issued 20, 50 and 100-dollar denominations with a "security strip" inside the bill. The security strip made of fluorescent plastic was embedded in the bill itself. The strips run from top to bottom and can be easily read under a fluorescent light bulb. The denomination of the bill was written on the strip, to prevent counterfeiters from "upgrading" lower denominations of the bill to higher denominations by "washing" the ink from the paper and reprinting the graphics of the bill using dye sub or laser printers.

Another method used by the United States government was the water marking system. The latest bills issued by the treasury have images embedded in the currency's paper. The watermark image can be viewed under a light source.

The image in the watermark should match the image of the president on the bill. The $100 bill has Benjamin Franklin as the standard and the watermark image. Some currency notes such as the $5 bills have been counterfeited to $100 bills. This bill is a carbon copy of the genuine one, but under scrutiny, the watermark image will reveal Lincoln's face as per the $5 bills and the true colors of the fake currency.

The latest counterfeit prevention technology put into use is the usage of special inks that appear to be different colors at different angles. Viewed from the left it would reveal the color green, and from the right the color would be black. These color-changing inks are very difficult to reproduce as they use a special compound that is next to impossible for the counterfeiters to manufacture.

These, then, are some of the latest security measures in practice in the United States to control the rising incidence of counterfeit US currency. However, this battle is far from over, as the counterfeiters keep on finding new and better ways to ensure the continuation of their illegal trade with the help of the latest technology. Keeping this in mind, we shall continue our research in this direction in order to keep you posted about the fresher challenges faced by the US Government in this battle and how they measure up to the efforts of the counterfeiters in ensuring the victory of the genuine US dollar.

Copyright 2006, Devon Valenta, All Rights Reserved. This article may be published on web sites or in newsletters provided this notice and the resource box is included without ammendment.

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Devon Valenta runs the Fone Currency, web site that focuses on a range of resources about currency issues. For more details, go to: www.fonecurrency.com
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