How To Tell If $100 Bill Is Fake

Table of Contents

3. Equipment for identifying fake currency

4. How should you handle a fake banknote?

5. How to handle fake bill payments in your accounting

Why is fake money a problem?

If you are a small business owner who takes cash payments, you need to make sure that your company is safe from fake currency. There are counterfeit banknotes worth millions of dollars in circulation. Before you take counterfeit money, learn how to identify false currency.

When fake currency is received, it loses all of its value and causes needless financial losses. Business owners often contacted our business lawyers to recover money but the cost of hiring an attorney outweigh the value of the money lost. Knowing how to identify genuine money will help you save your company from losing hundreds of thousands of dollars due to fake currency.

How to identify counterfeit money

Illegal money generated by con artists, not by the government, is known as counterfeit money. Since many counterfeiters are skilled at making bogus money appear authentic, it can be challenging for businesses to identify the fakes.

You can distinguish between genuine and fraudulent bills in a few different ways. First, the seven current denominations are as follows:

$1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100

A few security features are the same on all invoices. However, the $1 and $2 bills from 1963 and 1976 are identical, respectively. The five more expensive bills come with more security features.

How to tell if a $100 bill is fake? Although there are distinctions, counterfeiters may add security elements that seem similar to authentic currency to make it harder to spot phony bills. The phony security features are mainly surface-level.

Take a look at these security measures on legitimate US money. Once you are aware of them, you can search for some of these characteristics when collecting money.

The Federal Reserve emblem

The $1 and $2 bills have a different Federal Reserve seal than the other currencies.

The $1 and $2 bills bear a seal from the Federal Reserve Bank. This is to the left of the portrait and is black. The Federal Reserve Bank name and letter that issued the money are on it.

The Federal Reserve System seal, an eagle, is available for $5 bills and upwards. To the upper left of the seal are the letter and Federal Reserve Bank number.

Treasury seal

To the right of the image is the green Treasury Seal. Every bill issued after 1969 bears the same treasury seal.

Increased print

You may detect elevated printing on a legal bill by running your finger along it. Instead of being smooth, US cash is textured.

If the bill is smooth, it can be phony. Examine the bill with your finger and nail to make sure it has texture.

Substance

The money in the United States is not only printed on paper. Three-fourths cotton and one-fourth linen make up the bill. Additionally, the bill is stitched with security fibers in blue and red colors.

Verify that the security fibers, which are red and blue, are woven into the bill rather than put on top. The substance shouldn’t have the feel of regular paper.

Both an illustration and a portrait

The United States bill’s front has the image. The reverse side has the vignette. Every denomination has its own identity. Check the portrait and vignette carefully before signing the bill.

Numbers in serial form

There are eleven digits and letters on every US banknote. On the front of the bill, the serial numbers are printed twice: once on the left side of the portrait and once on the right.

Verify that the serial numbers on the two sets match. Do not accept the bill as payment if it is so shredded that a portion of one set of security numbers is gone.

Small-scale printing

Small lettering can be seen strewn all over bills $5 and upwards. Perhaps you should use a magnifying glass. The writing is understandable. It is fake if the wording is small and hazy.

You most likely won’t have time to check the bill for microprint with a magnifying glass. However, if you know what to look for, you can still scan it for some content.

Take a quick look at the bill to check whether there is any readable microprint. Microprinting is also used by certain counterfeiters, however it is hazy and may be in multiple places.

Hue

The denomination of the bill determines its hue. The $1 and $2 bills are both conventionally green in hue. The higher bills include a variety of hues. But there are no unique hues incorporated into the background of the $100.

Symbols

Additional symbols on legal money stand for American freedom. The Great Seal ($5), the Statue of Liberty’s torch ($10), an eagle ($20), stars ($50), and a quill ($100) are some of these symbols.

Numerals in color

The reverse of each denomination’s banknote contains a big, colorful number. All banknotes $5 or over, with the exception of the $100, have these numbers in the corners. On the back of the $100 bill, there is a colored number that runs vertically from corner to corner.

On the back of the $5 bill, there is a purple five in the lower right corner. On the reverse of the $10, $20, and $50 bills, there are identical green numbers in the lower right corner. There is a gold 100 on the back of the $100.

Year of series

Various series years exist, contingent on the denomination. Additionally, the series year and the initial letter of the serial numbers match. Verify that the letter matches the series year before accepting payment.

The letters that each series year should match are as follows:

1996: A

1999: B

2001: C

2003: D

2003A: F

2004: E; 2004A: G

2006: H/I (variable based on denomination)

2006A: K

2009: J

2009A: L

2013: M

2017: N

2017A: P

Security-related thread

Employees that hold $100 notes up to the light are likely searching for a security thread, if you’ve ever seen them do so. From $5 and higher, this security thread operates vertically on all bills. Additionally, a UV light reveals a distinct hue for every denomination.

Every bill has a different placement and printing on the thread.

Using a watermark

Any banknote that is $5 or more has a watermark that is visible when held up to a light source. With the exception of the $5, all watermarks are of the portraits. A five is the watermark on the $5 bill. The watermarks are located along the border, to the right of the portrait.

Changeable color ink

The color-shifting printing on bills valued at more than $5 is one of its security features. The denomination in the lower right corner of the bill should turn green or copper when you tilt it. It is fake money if, when you tilt the bill, the numbers do not change color.

There is no color-shifting ink on the $5 bill. It does, however, feature a huge purple five on the back in the lower right corner.

Extra protection for a $100 banknote

Learn how to identify additional security elements on a $100 bill to determine its authenticity. The $100 bill contains a 3D security ribbon woven into the paper in addition to the conventional security measures. As you slide the banknote, bells within the ribbon make sounds. There’s also a color-changing bell in the orange inkwell on the $100 bill.

Equipment for identifying fake currency

As you can see, every bill has a number of security elements included by the government. However, when a customer pays you, you might not have the time as a small business owner to commit the characteristics to memory and search for them all. You want to safeguard both your important time and the bottom line of your company against needless losses.

To distinguish between real money and counterfeit money, you can use tools. Pens, UV lamps, scanners, and other instruments range in price from five dollars to hundreds of dollars.

However, don’t rely just on tools. It’s possible that some instruments are unable to detect counterfeit money.

How should you handle a fake banknote?

So, how do you handle fake currency in your company? The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency states that you have to notify the authorities if you come across counterfeit money.

Make a note of the client who provided you with the invoice. They are not always the counterfeiters. It’s possible that they transferred the bill onto you after receiving it without recognizing it.

Aim to avoid handling the bill excessively. To allow authorities to check it for fingerprints, cover it. Make a call to the nearest Secret Service office or police department.

How to handle fake bill payments in your accounting

Regretfully, a counterfeit bill loses all of its value as soon as you receive it. The sale will not yield any revenue for you. You lose much more money if you give a customer real money as change after receiving counterfeit money.

Assume you are selling a customer a printer. You offer the customer $50 in actual currency after receiving a fake $100 bill. Your company has lost $50 in actual cash in addition to the money you were supposed to get for the printer.

Reversing the record in your accounting books is necessary. You must credit the inventory and debit the cash account when you make your first cash sale. However, you must go back and change the entries if you find out you accepted a fake bill.

At first, your company has $500 in cash. The amount in your cash account drops to $100 following the loss. Look over your first journal post.

To make adjustments to your books for counterfeit money, you must debit your bad debts expense account. The entry will be reversed as a result. Given that the consumer received $50 in change and you made a $50 sale, you must debit and credit $100 to both accounts.

A specific percentage of your losses will be covered by your policy if you have fraud protection for your small business. Think about getting commercial crime insurance to shield yourself against thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.

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