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Counterfeit marker

A counterfeit bill detector that exposes counterfeit bills for what they are.
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I used to work in a business where large sums of baknotes changed hands on a daily basis. It wasn't unusual to have had $20,000- $40,000 pass through your hands in an 8 hour day. 99.9% of the time, you can tell a counterfeit just by the way it feels, there's no need to even look at a bill to ascertain that it's the real McCoy. When in comes to large banknotes however, you naturally want to err on the side of caution, have a good-look and feel, and possibly use a counterfeit detection device. We had a special safe, equipped with a scanner that would reject any counterfeit bills (a Brinks "Compusafe") Ideally, you should retain a counterfeit note and hand it over to the RCMP/Secret Service/Scotland Yard or the equivalent in your jurisdiction. In this far from ideal world, however, you ALWAYS give a counterfeit banknote back to the person who handed it to you to avoid the possibility of violence. The swindler will then try to pass it to a hapless clerk elsewhere who's without the benefit of a counterfeit detector or brains. My "counterfeit stamper" would be a simple yet worthwile improvement on the safe that I've described: Prior to spitting the counterfeit bill out at you, the bill would be marked in bold letters "COUNTERFEIT - VOID" or something to the effect. The printer would consist of either an Ithaca printer (the simple printer used to print receipts and bus transfers, etc) OR there could be a self-inking stamp inside the safe.

The person with the counterfeit bill would be unable to pass the bill anywhere, he wouldn't get mad at the clerk in question, after all, the clerk didn't mark the bill, the safe did!

RogerRam, Oct 03 2003

Counterfeit Marker http://www.summitpo...ctor-Pen/43632.html
a real pen, but the ink would work for your the stamp [Isis, Oct 17 2004]


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Annotation:







       In UV ink, of course.
phoenix, Oct 03 2003
  

       just a long as the safe has foolproof checking techniques. I'd be mighty annoyed if it has got it wrong and a genuine note (bill) was effectively stamped invalid.
jonthegeologist, Oct 03 2003
  

       Couldn't you rip the bit you need from any old vending machine that accepts bills + computer + printer some furry wirey bits and wa la   

       On second thoughts , too slow and might not recognise the size of bill you are dealing with . Wouldn't this idea be baked at the upstanding righteous currency issuing institution we all look up to .
wjt, Oct 03 2003
  

       Simplest thing to do would be to mark the bill with iodine. Real bills don't change color much, but a lot of fakes will turn purple.
supercat, Oct 03 2003
  

       wjt: //might not recognise the size of bill you are dealing with //   

       The safe did recognize any denomination, because at the end of the day it would tell you exactly how much you deposited. Unless it was a denomination that hasn't been issued in ages, in which case you were on your own. It would only take two seconds for the safe to accept a legit bill or spit out counterfeit ones. It would only add maybe 15 seconds to have it print something on a fake.
RogerRam, Oct 04 2003
  

       Think of this. You go through all of hte trouble to make counterfeit bills. You try to pass one along, to a clerk at the grocery store. He passes it though the bill marker. Suddenly, you see it spit back out with the word COUNTERFEIT in big black letters, and the sound of sirens in the distance. Don't you think you'd be a little angry?   

       Or, how about the same story as above, but without the counterfeit. You had a real $100 bill, and it read it as counterfeit and spit it back out at you.   

       Or even, what if counterfeits was passed off to you, then you tried to spend it somewhere? Now, somewhere far off, there's some guy with your car, and he basically got it for free!
friendless-person, Jan 05 2004
  


 

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