What you need to do when you don’t have a banknote verification device

In this article you will learn how to recognize fake banknote even if you do not have money detector machine at your disposal. A tip to be on the safe side? Simple: take them to a the bank or at the post office and ask an operator to verify the banknote.

Fake banknote falling

Fortunately we can start talking about this thorny topic with good news: the amount of counterfeit banknotes withdrawn from circulation is decreasing in this last period. So even for you it will be less likely to run into this unpleasant rip-off. However in 2018, according to the Bank of Italy, around 54000 counterfeit banknotes still circulate, most of which are 20 and 50 € banknotes. It follows that the danger of running into one of these banknotes is more than real unless you have a money detector.

How to recognize a false bill

Although banknotes have become increasingly difficult to falsify thanks to the growing technology used for their production, the risk of running into one of them is always constant. The only way to be 100% certain that a bill is true or false is to use a bill counter able to recognize fake banknote. However it is not always easy to find one so we have tried to give you some advice on how to recognize counterfeit banknotes based also, but not only, on the anti-counterfeiting characteristics of banknotes:

1. Paper quality: the first thing to do is certainly to pay attention to the quality of the paper of the banknote in question False banknotes and how to recognize them In fact, the non-counterfeit banknotes appear very firm to the touch and also show a certain sound
2. The face of Europe: each banknote of the new series called ‘Europe‘ by the ECB has given the face of Europa, the mythological queen of Crete, in the window located at the top of each side of the banknote. The hologram with the portrait of Europa is in transparency, so to see it you will have to stand in backlight. The same portrait is also present in the watermark (on the left) of the banknote, regardless of its cut.
3. The emerald green number: these new banknotes also have an emerald green number on the front. This number changes color every time the money is moved to dark blue. In addition there is also a security thread, visible against the light, and next to it in the white part of the banknote, always against the light, you can easily see the figure of the value of the same banknote indicated with small white characters, and the symbol euro.
4. The elements in relief: one of the most effective ways of recognizing counterfeit banknotes is to know that each banknote of the new Europa series has – both on the right and on the left margin – small embossed elements, easily perceivable to the touch so as to allow even the blind people to easily recognize the cut of the banknote. Taking the money in hand, even the main image, as well as the figure indicating the cutting of the banknote and the various inscriptions, is in relief.
5. The network: as an alternative to all these methods you can also go to the following Crimnet link, the system of the Ministry of the Interior that allows you to check whether the serial number of a banknote exists or not. However, the data is updated with a delay of a few days and therefore has no legal value.

Electronic devices: the only way to surely recognize a fake banknote

Thanks to this information, recognizing an original bill from a counterfeit should not be a problem. However we don’t see the reason why you have to risk it and we advise you to buy one of the note counter machines that also serves as a banknote verification device, which – after illuminating the banknote with a beam of UV light – will tell you if it is authentic or if it is false without leaving room for errors that you could instead commit.