Counterfeit $1 Bills Seized

[mike stenson]

The $1 coin would actually save the treasury money by not having to deal with the hassle of printing and then recycling bills.

There are $1 coins. Most people would rather not deal with them. From 1970 - 1981 there was the Susan B Anthony dollar. It suffered in circulation due to its size. Most people thought it was a quarter.

Almost 100 years earlier another coin suffered the same fate, the 20¢ piece was a little bit smaller than a quarter. One of these came my way in change back in the 1950s.

jtk

Totally agreed, US bills and coinage are both hard to distinguish. Especially for those who have vision issues, but that also doesn't help move change along. Which is why I say abandonment of the one dollar bill will ever happen here.

[Roger Feeley]

There was a scandal back in the '70s in Emporia KS. A kid at the local vo-tech school was messing around in printing class. He shoots a negative of a $10 bill and prints some and the teacher doesn't notice.
-- He shot it 10% too big
-- He printed only one side
-- He printed it using blue ink on yellow paper that sorta worked out to green

So this kid is handing these out to his friends like kids do. One of this friends decides to pass one and goes to fill up with gas. This was back in the day when you filled your tank and then handed some roving worker the cash and they made change from their pocket. he buys $10 in gas and hands over the bill. The worker doesn't realize it until he puts the bill on his wad and it doesn't fit (too big). Not very astute but the worker does get the license plate and calls the Emporia Police.

The Emporia Police show up and don't know what to do so they call the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
The KBI shows up and doesn't know what to do so they call the FBI.
The FBI shows up and doesn't know what to do but they finally call the Secret Service.

The kid spent a night in jail and got yelled at.
The teacher was fired for not properly supervising his class.

I started evening classes the next year as an extension to my studies in Industrial Education (shop). They had a new teacher and he was great. We didn't print any money.

[John K Jordan]

Totally agreed, US bills and coinage are both hard to distinguish. Especially for those who have vision issues, but that also doesn't help move change along. Which is why I say abandonment of the one dollar bill will ever happen here.

I use the dollar coins a lot - I get them in rolls at the bank. I order packages of $2 bills too.

If you travel internationally they are GREAT to give out since most people have never seen them. Another thing I found friends were interested in, especially younger friends: used US $1 bills. It's far more valued as a keepsake if it's well worn since that means it has circulated around the US, who knows where.

[Greg Funk]

I used cash for the first time in 6 months last night buying something on craigslist. I tap my phone for 95% of my in person purchases so no risk of counterfeit bills here. I think the US is a few years behind the rest of the world in its reliance on cash.

[Bill Dufour]

Supposedly the nazi's in Germany had a government program to forge British money. It was so good it could not be detected. They found pallets of money in a lake in Germany after the war. The printing plates ?
Bil lD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bernhard

[Matt Schrum]

The $1 coin would actually save the treasury money by not having to deal with the hassle of printing and then recycling bills.

That used to be the case a decade or three ago, but is no longer true. Paper money used to have a much shorter lifespan before credit and debit cards became so widespread. Paper money is now lasting about twice as long as it used to, so the argument that coins are cheaper in the long run (higher up front costs, but longer circulation before replacement) is no longer quite so clear cut.

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/08/71116...on-dollar-coin

[Malcolm McLeod]

...If you travel internationally ....

^Careful. A couple or 10 yrs back I was in the interior of Mexico. Exchange rate at the time was exactly 100pesos/$1 IIRC, so Mexican retailers would take US currency, but NOT if there was ANY damage to it. What I thought was a minor edge tear or worn spot in ATM dispensed cash, was enough for them to refuse it.

Maybe tourist areas were/are different ...more confident of US$ appearance, or at least more confident the local banks would accept it..??

[Erik Loza]

...retailers would take US currency, but NOT if there was ANY damage to it. What I thought was a minor edge tear or worn spot in ATM dispensed cash, was enough for them to refuse it...

My wife and I experienced this in Kenya. The tour agency made a big deal about it beforehand. I remember going to our bank here and making sure all the $20's they gave us were nice and crisp.

Erik

[mike holden]

Add Peru and Argentina to that list. In both places, only crisp undamaged lightly folded bills were acceptable. Seemed odd to me as that is the likely condition of counterfeit bills, but then I don't change currency for a living.
Mike

[Frank Pratt]

I don't understand the reluctance to get rid of the $1 & $2 bills. When Canada did away with them decades ago there was very little protest and it saves significant amounts over paper currency. And what's with keeping the penny?

[Bill Dufour]

New Zealand prints their money on clear plastic. I believe 10 cents is the smallest coin now. I think the bank of England actually prints the stuff.
Bil lD

[mike stenson]

I don't understand the reluctance to get rid of the $1 & $2 bills. When Canada did away with them decades ago there was very little protest and it saves significant amounts over paper currency. And what's with keeping the penny?

Until pretty recently, I could say I spent most of my live in Europe. I don't get it either (nor do I understand the size, shape, and color having to be identical), although I think Scotland held onto the 1£ note longer than the rest of the UK as well.

The penny? Japan still has the 1¥ coin, which is aluminum and is so light it'll float on many liquids. FWIW, I still use cash in the US, although more in Germany and Japan (as also my friends who live there do). China, that's 100% cash, as I do not have a Chinese bank account so that I can use wechat to pay.

[Frank Pratt]

New Zealand prints their money on clear plastic. I believe 10 cent sis the smallest coin now. I think the bank of England actually prints the stuff.
Bil lD

Canadian bills are plastic as well. Lasts much longer & is easier to make counterfeit resistant.

[Jim Koepke]

That used to be the case a decade or three ago, but is no longer true. Paper money used to have a much shorter lifespan before credit and debit cards became so widespread. Paper money is now lasting about twice as long as it used to, so the argument that coins are cheaper in the long run (higher up front costs, but longer circulation before replacement) is no longer quite so clear cut.

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/08/71116...on-dollar-coin

Thanks for that Matt. My reading on coinage and bill printing statistics has definitely been lacking in the past few years.

The coin machine vending industry clamored for a round coin when the SBA dollar coin was issued. The treasury wanted to make an eleven sided coin similar to coins in Canada and other countries. The vending industry won. Then they never set up their machines to accept the dollar coin. During my employment in public transportation our vendors could have been set up to accept dollar coins. The cash handling department didn't want to bother with handling dollar coins.

The article Matt linked reported there is a billion dollars in dollar coins that no one wants to use.

jtk

[Bill Dufour]

making dollar coins and 2 dolalr bills is a great scheme. Make say one billion dollars worth, cost 250 million to make. hand out in exchange for paper money. Everyone saves them in the sock drawer as a "collectible, 3/4 billion profit for the treasury department. Similar to collectible stamps that never get used.
Bil lD