Originally published at: How counterfeit money is made and passed (video) | Boing Boing
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The one time I got caught unknowingly passing a counterfeit bill was in the Arby’s drive thru window. I had purchased a souvenir the week before in (ironically), a rare coin shop in New Orleans and simply didn’t notice the ragged and worn $20 I got back in change.
You can definitely tell by the feel of the paper - once you know what to look out for.
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Contrast with Emerich Juettner, who was one of the worst counterfeiters ever, but who got away with it for ten years because he never got greedy. And only got caught because he threw out some of his bills and they were found by neighborhood kids.
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If I recall correctly, he also only passed $1 bills so nobody really noticed.
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Now I want to rewatch To Live and Die in LA!
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It’s so interesting the lengths that people will go to in the pursuit of criminal enterprises, when they could have spent that time actually working.
I mean, I get that he was able to make a fair amount of counterfeit cash over the year, but at some point you know you’re going to get caught.
On another note, I’ve always wondered why large chains and the like didn’t just employ a reader at the registers. I suppose now that most people don’t pay with cash, it’s not that big a deal. I dunno.
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My son had a school project where he has to do a colonial-era job, and make something as a demonstration. He decided that rather than go with candle maker or baker or whatever he’d do counterfeiting. Made a pretty respectable copy of a dollar coin by casting it out of pewter.
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Counterfeiting is work! They hope to make more money at it than they would have at another job. Some may even succeed at it.
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It was noted for its realism at the time.
Which is hardly surprising, considering some of the producers:
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