# Counterfeit Twnties **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-twnties/200535 "2003-09-09T15:11:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Papa7Matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Papa7Matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papa7Matt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-twnties/200535/21 "2003-09-10T12:54:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*If counterfeiting of the current bills got to be a really big problem, then merchants themselves could refuse to accept 1990s-style “Twenties” without hurting their business much. \*\* Isn’t it illegal for a US merchant to refuse to accept legal US tender? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-twnties/200535/22 "2003-09-10T13:31:18Z")
No, it’s not, because legal tender is good for satisfying all debts. Walking up to a counter with a cart full of merchandise doesn’t create a debt. It’s an offer to purchase, subject to reasonable terms and conditions set by the merchant. That’s why merchants can put up signs that say “no bills over $20 accepted” and not have to give away products to people who try to pay with $50s. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-twnties/200535/23 "2003-09-10T19:59:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by asterion \* > This sort of thing is one reason to always use those counterfeit detection pens. It’s a lot harder to come up with something that won’t show the wrong color than it is to make a photocopy. Actually, the only piece of paper I’ve not seen react to the pen was the newspaper. Those pens just contain a weak iodine solution that turns dark blue in the presence of starch. US currency doesn’t have starch in it, whereas most other paper does. However, accidentally put a bill through a wash with starch and you could have a problem. Also, to show the unreliability of these pens, James Randi sometimes withdraws money from his bank account, sprays it with starch, and re-deposits it! [http://www.chicagofed.org/consumerinformation/faqs/currency\_and\_coins.cfm#13](http://www.chicagofed.org/consumerinformation/faqs/currency_and_coins.cfm#13) > [@](#): > > The Federal Reserve does not consider these pens to be reliable enough to detect all counterfeits. A better detection method would be to look for the watermark embedded in the right-hand side of the newly designed notes, or to scan them under an ultraviolet or “black” light. The security strip in these notes will glow a particular color: red on $100s, yellow on $50s and green on $20s when viewed under ultraviolet light. Another feature to look for is the security strip imbedded in all of the currency printed since 1991, with the exception of the $1 notes. When held up to light, a polymer thread can be detected in the left side of the note. Red and blue threads are also disbursed throughout real currency. ---
**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-twnties/200535/24 "2003-09-10T20:40:09Z")
Went to the smoke shop for lottery tickets and handed the lady a US $20 bill. She holds it under a black light… First, I was shocked that I was being mistrusted. (for a split second) Second, I was amazed that she was using a black light to do the detection. Third, I got my lottery tickets and change, making her test the bills she gave back to me. Then I struck up a convo about the counterfeit "detector. " She said she had been inundated with deposits to the bank that had fakeys (her word, not mine) I said yeah, the twenties were the most counterfeit bill in the world. Then she lays on me she had the following break down of fakeys that week: 1 twenty 1 ten 12 fives I asked “Fives?” She said the school had installed these devices during the summer, because the kids pass them for lunch. Seems the little tykes figured out how to scan them in and print off their milk money. She read an article about it somewhere and bought the counterfeit detector for about $27 and that it had already made back the cost and then some. I told her I’d be back to check the rest of my bills later! google search can get those sweet [B}“third millenium-“fakey” detectors” {/B]by typing in **electronic counterfeit**. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-twnties/200535/25 "2003-09-10T20:50:06Z")
Even the worst conterfeiters are sucessful sometimes. Recently a 7-11 type shop in North Seattle accepted a $20 that had been printed on a color copier. The thing is the kid who copied it didn’t know how to copy both sides… you got it. when they counted the till, the back was blank. oops! The teen was caught. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeit-twnties/200535.md?page=1)