Not meaning to be snide, but as a merchant you should know that the $100 from the sale (15) and the change (85) is the SAME $100 you’re trying to deposit. There’s absolutely no way this costs $200. If EITHER you did not give the person the merchandise and the change, OR the bank did credit the deposit, you would have lost nothing. Think about it.
Doesn’t the security thread on a $5 bill say USA FIVE? And the watermark is a picture of Lincoln. So I would not think these counterfeit bills would hold up to close inspection.
We used to have the Queen on our $2 notes, but they’ve been taken out of circulation with the introduction of the toonie coin. Now she’s only on the $20 note.
It doesn’t even need a close inspection. Just twisting the corner of the bill that has the numbers printed in refractive color-change ink, something that an experienced cashier can do in a half-second as they’re putting the bill in the drawer, can help distinguish a real from a fake. I suppose the effect could be recreated, but it puts a big bite into the counterfitters’ profit margin.
And while some computer printer outputs can aproximate the feel of real money when printed on bleached bills, if someone’s attentive enough, the feel of the intaglio printed genuine article is unmistakeable.
How well do the red and blue “threads” that are embedded in the paperstock that the US mint uses stand up to the bleaching process?
gazpacho, I have tried to pay with 2 dollar bills before and had the clerk at the local fast food place in the mall hail security because him and his manager both thought it was fake. The security guard laughed at him and said 2 dollar bills exist and they took the money rather suspiciously. It read almost exactly like the burrito episode to an eerie degree. If it is an urban legend, it actually happened to me.
And I nominate dorkusmalorkusmafia as the person for Snopes to cite as verification of the Taco Bell story! The best urban legend reference ever: “No, it’s true! It actually happened to dorkusmalorkusmafia ! You can ask him!”
RE the big bills; I got lucky and won some money in Vegas last weekend. The cashier gave me the option of 20s or 100s - I took 20s, knowing that I was coming back to Texas and I didn’t want to try to pay for a movie or lunch with a C-note. It kind of frustrated me, because I’m basing decisions in my life on the actions of crooks. Why do I suddenly become suspicious if I pull a $100 bill out of my wallet?
pilot141
How do you verify a story at snopes? I don’t know how to prove something that happened so long ago to the satisfaction of the snopes population.
dorkus, nobody can really `prove’ that story unless he can round up the casheir, the manager, and the guard, and everyone’s stories jibe. And even then, who can tell they aren’t all jokers?
`Undecided’ isn’t Snopes being a bunch of jerks. It truly is the only thing they can possibly put in that slot.
Okay, I agree that it is the same $100. Just seems like I am out $200.
And yes, the security thread and other security devices on the printing can be easily detected. But also remember, in this thread there are stories of cashiers who think that $2 bills are fake. Face it, many retail clerks are not concerned about whether the bill is counterfeit or not. The person who owns the business is concerned and tries to let the cashier have all of the info, but we are still dealing with usually low paid people.
As long as up to 25% of the $100 bills in my area MAY be counterfeit, I am not going to accept them.
As a former cashier, my store did not accept large bills during the night shift (10pm-6am). We weren’t worried about counterfeit bills, only limiting the amount of cash kept out of the safe that late at night. The night cashiers were never supposed to have over $100 in their register…thus making it difficult to accept large bills.
I did have an experience with friends once where the driver had pumped gasoline and found out when he went inside the store that they didn’t take hundreds… and that was all he had. We all had to dig out change to pay for it because the cashier/manager in the store refused to take his bill.
What really bugs me are the signs that say “We don’t accept bills larger than $20”. The last time I looked $100 bills are exactly the same size.
Personally, I love to get at least $50 in two dollar bills from the bank, when I go inside to get cash, to put back into circulation. It is a blast to watch employees try and find a place to put it in the cash register. They’re available at any bank for the asking, not just wadded up in a drawer. Some people don’t know what a “half-dollar” is.
I used to do similar when I was young and obnoxious. That was many years ago though kinda like this zombie thread you resurrected.
I’d think the hologram on the new US $100 note would be far more counterfeit proof than a $20 or other bill without it.