# Small inaccuracy in currency article. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 3, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-inaccuracy-in-currency-article/443754 "2008-04-03T02:08:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Number43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@Number43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number43)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-inaccuracy-in-currency-article/443754/1 "2008-04-03T02:08:54Z")
On the classic article just put on the front page (“Were magnetic strips put in U.S. currency so the feds could track your money?”), I take issue with one of the statements. The microprinting type on bills made after 1990 is not unreadable to the naked eye. It is difficult, but I am capable of reading it. And it’s not just because I already know what it says either, as I can make out each individual letter and tell how many times in a row it is written.) However I do fully realize that it won’t be readable to everyone, and only people with really good close-distance vision can probably read it (I wear glasses, but that’s only for things that are far away and it isn’t a severe case). ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-inaccuracy-in-currency-article/443754/2 "2008-04-03T05:15:46Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, Number. A link to the column you’re commenting on is appreciated. Providing one can be as simple as pasting the URL into your post, making sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_030.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_030.html) Keep in mind that Cecil’s column was written in 1994 and the microprinting has been changed since then. I too have good close vision, but only in one eye. Under very good light I can read the microprinting around the bottom part of the oval around the portrait in a series 1996 $20 bill. In a series 2004 bill I can read most of the dark microprinting under the Treasurer’s signature, including the “USA” inside the large zero. But the tiny “20” that lies between the 2 and the 0 of the large “20” looks more like a “25” to my unaided eye. The light blue microprinting around the large light blue TWE and USA to the right of the portrait is devilishly hard to read. I can see that it’s there but I can only make out a few letters and numerals without a magnifying glass. I could guess that it repeats the same “USA20” thing over and over, but I wouldn’t have been able to swear to it without a magnifying glass. ---
**Author:** ![Number43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@Number43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number43)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-inaccuracy-in-currency-article/443754/3 "2008-04-03T05:45:55Z")
Huh, I didn’t realize the newest bills had that much microprinting locations on them (though I hadn’t examined one that closely before). I can, in fact, read the microprinting on the older small-head bills (I first noticed it on a 5), and did not need unusually good lighting to do so.