Monday, January 14, 2008

Better Than the Average Counterfeit Bill

Illustration on left: The only way to distinguish some of the "supernotes," experts say, is to compare photographically blown-up sections with magnifying instruments, as these craftworkers did recently in Tokyo. About $50 million of the mystery money has been seized since 1989.

This story seems to be more important than a report of racial tensions between the Clinton and Obama camps, and in our opinion, qualifies as a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT.

FOX News reports that fake $100 bills of exceptional quality have been popping up around the world. At first currency experts suspected North Korea of being behind these bogus bills, but other counterfeiters, such as Iran or the Chinese or Russian underworld, are believe to have produced them.

"The 'supernote' appears to be made from the same cotton and linen mix that distinguishes U.S. currency from other currency. It even has watermarks visible from the other side of the bill, colored microfibers woven into the substrate of the banknote and an embedded strip, barely visible, that reads USA 100 and glows red under ultraviolet light.

"The secret operation, stumping officials worldwide, could be the 'most sophisticated counterfeiting operation in the world,' former congressman James Kolbe told McClatchy Newspapers."
Click here to read the report in The Kansas City Star.

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