My husband swears he was pulled over and held for questioning last night because he had too many large bills in the car and the police can tell. He claims the thread you see running thru the bill is decetable from a cop car driving past.
I’m pretty sure he’s full of it, but on the off chance he’s right, I thought I’d ask.
I’d love to hear more details on this story. Was all of this money in his wallet? Did he end up getting a ticket? Did the cops say that he was pulled over for having 23 hundred dollar bills in his possession?
To answer your question, there is nothing in the security strip that can be detected remotely.
It wasn’t the threads in the bills, it was his foil hat they detected.
No, he’s full of it. This is possibly one of the most widely spread currency myths, but there’s simply no truth to it.
He’s a resturant manager, he was making the nightly deposit. It was in the depoist bag.
But it’s such a nice story Q.E.D.!
Here’s a link to one version (with pictures): RFID Tags in New US Notes Explode When You Try to Microwave Them
The police knew what job your husband had, and were pulling his leg?
Did they put a colander on his head wired to a photocopier?
But are there RFID tags in any US or European currency, explosive or otherwise?
Probabaly. Like I said, I’m pretty sure he’s full of it.
Any thin strip of metal will heat up extremely quickly in a microwave. There’s no need to burn money to prove it.
No, there aren’t RFID tags in any currency, just the ordinary anti-counterfeiting metal strip.
Also, I appear to have the reading skills of a monkey.
It’s not even a metal strip, it’s polyester. When Officer Friendly saw the deposit bag, then he knew there was a large amount of cash in the car, though.
Boy. I’ve never used that excuse before. Thanks for the tip. 
Did he smell of perfume and/or did his collar have lipstick on it?
And, the obligatory snopes links:
There seems to be something in US currency that is detectable somehow, because cash sent to Mexico is always stolen, no matter how well it is wrapped. I have received a letter in a large envelope along with a thick wad of papers, with a twenty dollar bill (sent by my sister as a birthday present to my daughter) that was in a smaller sealed envelope with a birthday card. Big envelope was still sealed, little envelope sealed, card intact, and no money. Don’t have any idea how they do it, but they do. Checks also commonly disappear.
So, you’re saying there is something in checks also that can be detected?
Maybe you misunderstood, and your husband really had several big, suspicious-looking friends named Bill riding with him.
I call it ‘open, search, and reseal.’