Bleached Counterfeit Currency

An example of a $100 Federal Reserve Note printed on a bleached $5 note (Image courtesy of Prescott Police Department via AOL.com)

Bleaching low currency denominations and printing higher denominations is not a new phenomenon. This past week a New Jersey man was convicted again for doing it again.

Hollis Forteau, 38, of New Jersey, was convicted on two counts of counterfeiting in 2015 for bleaching low denomination notes, printing $100 on the blank paper, and passing them as real currency. Since most people continue to use iodine pens to detect counterfeit currency, the counterfeit notes will pass the test.

Professional counterfeiters know it is easy to pass bleached currency. Rather than understanding the embedded security features of real currency, stores continue to rely on technology that the criminals know how to defeat.

Although the counterfeiter is convicted, the damage will affect the businesses he scammed and their customers. The businesses do not get compensated for the lost revenue for each counterfeit note, and those businesses will have to recover the lost revenue by raising prices. Nowadays, with inflation increasing, the business can bury the rise in inflation concerns.

The consumers end up paying for these cases.

Businesses should be encouraged to train their employees to recognize the anticounterfeiting embedded into United States currency by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

And now the news…

 March 14, 2022
The Central Bank of Argentina has ceased minting new coins, according to media reports. Rising metals prices have made the coins too costly to produce.  → Read more at centralbanking.com

 March 15, 2022
A New Jersey man was sentenced to five years in prison after creating counterfeit money with bleach, $1 bills and a printer, officials said. Fake $100’s were made.  → Read more at miamiherald.com

 March 16, 2022
The rare gold coin has been on display at the British Museum on long-term loan from a private collector.  → Read more at foxbusiness.com

 March 18, 2022
The Ukraine crisis has shaken up prices—and sent some Americans scrambling for coins.  → Read more at theatlantic.com

 March 19, 2022
Do you know that Sheikh Noor ud Din and Sheikh Humza Makhdoom have also been mentioned in the numismatic records of this land?  → Read more at greaterkashmir.com
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