On 17/12/2019 10:53, Jethro_uk wrote:
asking here because it may have appealed to DIYers ...

in the 90s, I read a true-crime book by a forger. The covers claim was
that he cost the US treasury millions by forging their "unforgeable"
dollars months after they were released.

It was very detailed, and mentioned oddities they had used in the dollar
production to make it impossible to photograph a dollar bill and have it
all in focus. (He managed to get around that by photographing 1mm squares
at different focal lengths and stitching them into a single plate).

There was also mention that US currency has 1mm plastic rods of different
colours embedded - one test for genuine is to tease one out under a
microscope.

Try as I might I can't seem to find it now. Does anyone recall reading
it, and (more usefully) who wrote it ?

It ended with him being caught (he makes the point forgers will always
risk being caught next to a sodding big printing press) and choosing to
plead guilty in the UK to avoid a US case.

Sounds interesting. It used to be claimed that US currency was low on
security features, e.g the limited colours.

The focus and 1 mm squares stuff sounds to me like an invention. It's a
while since I handled any US currency, is it "crinkly"?

newshound wrote:

It used to be claimed that US currency was low on security features

I must admit I thought the same, notes look the same as 90 years ago,
mind you I've not handled one since 2002.

On 2019-12-18, Andy Burns wrote:

newshound wrote:

It used to be claimed that US currency was low on security features

I must admit I thought the same, notes look the same as 90 years ago,
mind you I've not handled one since 2002.

They're extremely conservative about changing the art/design, but AIUI
they do keep introducing new security features.

On 18/12/2019 11:54, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Wed, 18 Dec 2019 10:54:58 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

newshound wrote:

It used to be claimed that US currency was low on security features

I must admit I thought the same, notes look the same as 90 years ago,
mind you I've not handled one since 2002.

One of the innovations (in the 80s ?) was a mix of 1mm plastic threads in
different colours that could be physically teased out of the paper. Any
counterfeit would simply be a photographic reproduction of such. So an
expert could quickly determine if a note was printed on genuine paper
easily.

Presumably there must have been additional measures to prevent fraudsters
bleaching $1 dollar bills and printing $100 artwork onto the paper ?

I seem to recall that there was once a viable scam that involved
inserting a slice containing a zero that converted (was it?) $100 to
$1000. The artwork was virtually indistinguishable on both.

On 18/12/2019 11:52, Jethro_uk wrote:


Sounds interesting. It used to be claimed that US currency was low on
security features, e.g the limited colours.

The book exploded that myth. What *really* ****ed of the US, and made it
imperative that the author did a deal with the UK was that his little
hobby effectively torpedoes years of development. The US treasury was
forced to start from scratch.

Even if it's denied a reprint (and it's really an ephemeral story), there
must be old copies around.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caveat-Empt.../dp/1605983608

On 18/12/2019 12:36, newshound wrote:
On 18/12/2019 11:52, Jethro_uk wrote:


Sounds interesting. It used to be claimed that US currency was low on
security features, e.g the limited colours.

The book exploded that myth. What *really* ****ed of the US, and made it
imperative that the author did a deal with the UK was that his little
hobby effectively torpedoes years of development. The US treasury was
forced to start from scratch.

Even if it's denied a reprint (and it's really an ephemeral story), there
must be old copies around.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caveat-Empt.../dp/1605983608

Oops sorry hit send too soon while doing some googling. I was going to
suggest ABE books if we could find an author or title

On 18/12/2019 12:38, newshound wrote:
On 18/12/2019 12:36, newshound wrote:
On 18/12/2019 11:52, Jethro_uk wrote:


Sounds interesting. It used to be claimed that US currency was low on
security features, e.g the limited colours.

The book exploded that myth. What *really* ****ed of the US, and made it
imperative that the author did a deal with the UK was that his little
hobby effectively torpedoes years of development. The US treasury was
forced to start from scratch.

Even if it's denied a reprint (and it's really an ephemeral story),
there
must be old copies around.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caveat-Empt.../dp/1605983608


Oops sorry hit send too soon while doing some googling. I was going to
suggest ABE books if we could find an author or title

https://www.amazon.com/Counterfeiter.../dp/0312038054

This one maybe?

On Wednesday, 18 December 2019 12:53:54 UTC, newshound wrote:
https://www.amazon.com/Counterfeiter.../dp/0312038054
This one maybe?

A forger's tale, Author: Greenhalgh, Shaun. is art forgery

I can't find it in the library catalogue but I read one good book about counterfeit currency - I think British.

IIRC they faked the watermark by printing it in white ink, and printed a fake metallic foil strip with metallic ink, then partially overprinting it with more white ink to get the interrupted pattern.

Owain

On 2019-12-18, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Wed, 18 Dec 2019 08:17:38 -0800, spuorgelgoog wrote:

On Wednesday, 18 December 2019 12:53:54 UTC, newshound wrote:
https://www.amazon.com/Counterfeiter...rles-Black/dp/
0312038054
This one maybe?

A forger's tale, Author: Greenhalgh, Shaun. is art forgery

I can't find it in the library catalogue but I read one good book about
counterfeit currency - I think British.

IIRC they faked the watermark by printing it in white ink, and printed a
fake metallic foil strip with metallic ink, then partially overprinting
it with more white ink to get the interrupted pattern.

Owain

In the book I read (I think it is the Charles Black one) then everything
was done photographically. With the added twist that for some reason (and
maybe some photography or optics experts might make sense) trying to
photograph a complete dollar bill wasn't possible without some bits being
slightly out of focus enough to make it impossible to reproduce cleanly.
The forger got around that by photographing in tiny squares (1mm IIRC)
resetting the focus each time, and stitching them together to make a
single plate-quality photo.

I'm not an expert in printing, nor repro work ....

Not yet, but it sounds like you need a hobby... ;-)

Jethro_uk wrote:

SWMBO is nagging me for a suggestion for a present. That might fit the
bill

have you already organised the lock-up for the presses?

On 2019-12-18, newshound wrote:

On 18/12/2019 11:52, Jethro_uk wrote:


Sounds interesting. It used to be claimed that US currency was low on
security features, e.g the limited colours.

The book exploded that myth. What *really* ****ed of the US, and made it
imperative that the author did a deal with the UK was that his little
hobby effectively torpedoes years of development. The US treasury was
forced to start from scratch.

Even if it's denied a reprint (and it's really an ephemeral story), there
must be old copies around.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caveat-Empt.../dp/1605983608

That's art forgery, but it looks interesting.