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Over the past few decades, the international phenomenon of counterfeiting of modern currency has slowly acquired such alarming proportions that it has turned into a serious problem for Governments the world over. In order to control this international criminal activity and protect the currencies of their respective countries, Governments around the world have been effecting changes in their currency notes from time to time. With the advent of powerful consumer image editing software, cheap high resolution scanners, and low priced computer equipment it becomes easier and easier every year for counterfeiters to duplicate the designs and images found on modern currency. The threat of counterfeit currency is no laughing matter to the governments of the world, who have taken measures to ensure that their money is as difficult to replicate as possible. In this article we will discuss a few of the methods they have used to undermine the efforts of counterfeiters worldwide. One such step taken by the US Government during the 1980s, was to issue bills of 20, 50 and 100-dollar denominations along with a security strip that was located on them from their top to bottom. These bills had their denominations clearly written on this security strip that was made of fluorescent plastic. It was quite easy to read the printed matter on this strip by holding the bills under a fluorescent light bulb. Despite this fact, however, the clearly written denominations turned out to be a hindrance for the counterfeiters in their efforts to 'upgrade' bills of lower denominations to those of higher denominations, something that they did by 'washing' the ink from the paper. On this paper, they reprinted the graphics of the bill with the help of the dye sub or laser printers. Watermarking is another method that can prevent the counterfeiting of currency. This method is being used in the United States wherein the latest bills issued by the treasury contain images designed into the paper itself. These watermarked images on bills of different denominations match the images of different US Presidents. For example, the $100-bill bears the likeness of the former US President Benjamin Franklin with respect to the standard image as well as the watermark. These images can be seen quite easily when we hold the bills against a source of light. The image in the watermark should match the image of the president on the bill. The $100 bill has Benjamin Franklin as the standard and the watermark image. Some currency notes such as the $5 bills have been counterfeited to $100 bills. This bill is a carbon copy of the genuine one, but under scrutiny, the watermark image will reveal Lincoln's face as per the $5 bills and the true colors of the fake currency. Finally, one of the latest counterfeit prevention technologies that have been put into use is special inks that appear to be different colors at different angles. When viewed from the left, for example the color may appear to the eye to be a light green, but as the viewer shifts over to the right, the color changes to black. These color changing inks are very difficult to reproduce as they use a special compound that is very difficult for counterfeiters to manufacture. These are just a few security features that have been used to secure the Modern United States currency. So be prepared for more new methods and technology to maintain the integrity of the almighty dollar. Copyright 2006, Devon Valenta, All Rights Reserved. This article may be published on web sites or in newsletters provided this notice and the resource box is included without ammendment.
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Devon Valenta runs the Fone Currency, web site that focuses on a range of resources about currency issues. For more details, go to: www.fonecurrency.com Don't reprint the same version as everyone else. Get your own unique content currency article here.
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