# Counterfeiting currency.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeiting-currency/779946>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 15, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeiting-currency/779946 "2017-02-15T23:37:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeiting-currency/779946/21 "2017-02-16T21:17:55Z")

</div>

> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> Made from paper made from cotton and linen, the way fine paper was made for centuries before wood-pulp paper became far cheaper and thus more common.
> 
> Currency isn’t printed on cloth. And there are commercially-available paper grades pretty much indistinguishable from currency paper - at least, older such paper - other than lacking the fine details such as the red and blue fibers.

This reminds me of a book I read recently about the history of paper. It talked about how the profession of “Rag Man” was a real thing as these guys sold their collected rags to paper mills for recycling into new paper. Before this I had thought the term simply meant someone who was so poor that they were ragged.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeiting-currency/779946/22 "2017-02-16T21:37:50Z")

</div>

Update: some googling shows me that the Boggs Tubman note is something different, so it goes back to the Youtuber being the idiot. Boggs was still just a fraud.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeiting-currency/779946/23 "2017-02-17T07:24:43Z")

</div>

> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> Yes, I understand that. But I’ve never in my life been denied the ability to buy something in cash because the cashier didn’t like the design on the bill.

Sounds like your rule won’t do anything, then. If it doesn’t happen now, when it’s allowed, then doing nothing to change that will result in nothing changing.

Based on your characterization of cashiers’ behavior, though, it sounds like this isn’t actually a problem with a solution that makes sense. If retailers are so universally unconcerned by the threat of counterfeit old money, I’m fine with following their lead.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterfeiting-currency/779946.md?page=1)