Counterfeiting: We're In The Money
A frequently asked question by a customer is "Can you break a hundred
dollar bill?" If this request has been granted, why do the cashiers take the
bill and turn it into a biology experiment? Between pouring a liquid on the note
and/or holding it up to the light to check for authenticity, is our currency
system in danger? As of the beginning of 1996, the Chairman of the Federal
Reserve and the Secretary of the United States Treasury, prove their economic
wizardry by making the new one hundred dollar bill nearly impossible to
counterfeit in attempt to protect our economy. This is just the first step in
improving our currency system.
Counterfeiting U.S. currency is an illegal practice that has has been
around for years and, unfortunately,is getting worse. "Last year, ...the Secret
Service cooperated with the Italian authorities' seizure of $43.8 million in
counterfeit U.S. currency, Germany's capture of more than $19 million in
counterfeit cash, and the Canadian authorities; seizure of than $129 million in
counterfeit U.S. currency." (Gomez, Bertha. "Officials Say..") In a small town
north of Chicago, two high school seniors were arrested for the use of
counterfeit bills. With the use of the internet and a color printer, these two
teenagers were able to create and pass their counterfeit twenty dollar bills
through the high school cafeteria but were later arrest by police after trying
to use their money at a local Taco Bell. If teenagers are finding ways to
counterfeit money, that should tell someone that we need to do something to
protect our economy for the futur ...