UPDATE #2: February 1, 2008 (See end of document / "Update #2")

UPDATE #1: October 15, 2007 (See end of document / "Update #1")

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Just because a banknote has a hologram...it's not necessarily real!

I have been employed for a while at a company that has the mandate to count and verify your money on behalf of the banks.  Yes, the money you deposit in the banks gets counted by me and others accross Canada.

I have always been fascinated and have a collectors itch for all types of world banknotes but I feel that, as far as beauty is concerned, Canada has produced some of the most beautiful banknotes in the world.

Having had the opportunity to collect and now work with money on a daily basis, I can spot a fake a mile away.  It is actually quite amazing and sometime amusing to see the counterfeit bills that are being passed in Canada and sad at the same time that many Canadians don't know what security features are present on a given note.

How many times have you taken a $100.00 "Birds Series" and even the most recent "Canadian Journey" note into a store to pay for something only to be told that "due to high amount of counterfeits, we do not accept any note higher than a newer $20."  What really is the difference if you do not accept a $100 bill and then have someone pass you $100 worth of fake $20 bills.  Don't be fooled in thinking that it's better to accept a lower denomination.  I have seen envelopes deposited into the ATM machine by reputable businesses stuffed with counterfeit currency.  Unfortunately, it is up to them to stop counterfeits.  All counterfeit notes are debited from their account and they end up with a loss in profits.  Yes, you are responsible for the money you deposit. If you deposit a fake you will be debited the amount and there is nothing you or I can do about it.  Sad but true. 

For this hassle to not take place, all you really have to do is get aquainted with the money that you use on a daily basis.  If you own a business you have to teach (or hire someone like me to teach) your employees to be able to detect a fake or ask a peer or a manager to verify the banknote in question.

The most important thing to know is that a very well used banknote, regardless of how many tears and wrinkles it has, does not automatically make it a fake.   Some stores will not accept a wrinkled $5.00 bill - or other notes - just in case it is fake.  Absurd!  Look at a very wrinkled note and you can still see that although the note is in its ugliest shape, the note still has a certain brilliant-like look due to the printing process - even if it is faded.  A counterfeit note always looks dull in colour and lifeless regrdless if it is "like-new" or in wrinkled condition.

The number one thing that you need to know about Canada's paper money as of right now (Canadian Journey Series) is that our money is the most secure document in the world.  Our money has so many security features that it is overboard.  Having said that, even our older currency has some form of security feature or brilliance to it that one should be able to recognize and accept as payment or change.  If you are in business, there is no reason to not accept Canadian denominations of the past and present - even the no longer in circulation $1000.00 bill which is still legal tender.  The same goes for a regular customer receiving change. 

Once, when I used to work in retail, I accepted a $100 bill from 1935 right in front of my boss who had turned yellow in the face that I accepted it right in front of him without verifying if it was real.  I explained that I accepted it so that I can buy it off him to put in my collection and that I knew at first glance that it was real...and thankfully, in excellent condition.  

How to determine if your note is real ("Birds Of Canada" Notes)

1) Optical Device (top left) - In the real note, the optical device changes colour from gold to green and back to gold.  In the fake note where this device is present the "100" is sometimes missing and the gold optical device has a very muted gold look but does not change colours back and forth in the same fashion as a real note.

2) Planchettes (Green Dots) - The green dots are found everywhere on the banknote and can be easily removed with a sharp object. Also, the green dots have a flourescent glow under ultra-violet light.  The fake notes show these planchettes as darker in most cases and sometimes as a dark gray.

3) Raised Ink Printing (Intaglio Printing) -  This is my favourite feature of Canadian banknotes.  Even an old and wrinkled Canadian banknote can be given the next test which I use on a daily basis to quickly determine if a worn out note is genuine or when a note does not pick up on my counting machine. I scratch along the printed surface of the banknote where on a real note I will actually feel the ridges along the portrait figures clothing, the large denomination number on the left or the coat of arms.

4) Micro Lines - Another ultimate feature which many Canadians do not even know existed on these notes.  All along the edges on the front of the note have these thousands of little tiny lines going towards the outer edges of the paper.  Put one of these old notes near your eyes and see the little spider-web like lines creating patterns that are really invisible otherwise.  This is an ultimate feature which is impossible to reproduced by any reproduction technique.

5) Microprinting - This is another security feature which if reproduced looks like a blur.  If you can't read the microprinting throughout the note, don't accept it.  The notes produced by the Bank of Canada will have microprinting which when looked at close up one can read the various security features - i.e, "Bank of Canada", or 100 or any other micro printed inscription.

6) Serial Numbers - If one gives you a bunch of notes that have the same serial number then you know you have an issue on your hands.  Canadian banknotes always have serial numbers on the left and right hand side of the banknotes (on the back in recent releases). 

7) Colour - A counterfeit note still has a look that screams FAKE.  The authentic note, even if washed, still has this brilliance to it.  The lines on the portrait is still solid.  The note still has a feel of authenticity.  The counterfeit is always dull, always heavy in colour (darker or lighter) and never with that brilliance that is created by the Bank of Canada printing process. Look at the planchettes.  Try to find the micro-printed lines on the border.  Look at the optical device. 

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How to determine if your note is real ("Canadian Journey" Notes)

1) Holographic Stripe - When you tilt an authentic note the holographic stripe will change back and forth into millions of different colours.  It will seem to you that the embedded denominational number 100 (for example) and the maple leaf moves every time you tilt or move that particular area.  They can even look as if they are moving towards you.  There are also tiny microprinted denominational numbers within the hologram and the maple leaf is split with different colour schemes. 

On the counterfeit there are two types of holographic stripes that I have seen so far.  Some lower end fakes have just a silver bar on the left hand side of the note with no microprinting or any attempt at adding some form of image within the stripe.  That is the first sign of a fake for these notes and should never be accepted.  The other type of holographic strip that I have seen is pretty good but as they say, not good enough.  These more sophisticated counterfeits try to mimick the security features that are found in the real thing but the colour of the fake hologram remains dull silver throughout.  If your note does not have that rainbow effect and the movement of the other holographic images within the stripe then you have a fake on your hands.

These notes have an added security feature on the holographic notes that are rarely properly reproduced on a counterfeit.  That is, the denominational number is Intaglio printed on the top part of the stripe and the coat of arms is "perfectly" intaglio printed on the bottom of the note.  The reason that I wrote "perfectly" is that on the fakes, the printing on the holographic stripe sometimes gets blurred and usually the denominational value on the top is not present or looks extremely poor if present.

The portrait figures hair is also embeded in the hologram.  Look closely and see how the portrait and the hologram kind of intertwine together.  There is not a counterfeit out there that will spend the time to make the note as perfect as the real thing due to the fact that they know that most Canadians don't know a real from a fake.  And, they are correct. 

2) Watermark - On the right hand side of the note there is a watermark with an image of the portrait figure of the note.  Put the note up towards a light source and you will see the image along with the denominational value of the note. Fakes do not have this watermark and often on the fake note, this area is a little darker than the authentic note.

3) Security Thread - Again, hold the money up to a light source and you will see the denominational value and the term "CAN" (i.e. Canada) running along the stripe.  On the $100 bill you will see "CAN 100 CAN 100 CAN 100" all along the stripe and on the back this stripe - gold in colour -  looks like it is interwoven into the note (partially visible) with the same inscriptions as the front.  Beware, on fake notes, the back of the note has the interwoven stripe visible but often times it is painted with gold paint or is poorly reproduced in the paper itself. 

4) Jig-Saw Puzzle "See-Through" Number - Between the watermark and the large numerals on the right of the note you will see a partial number.  Also, on the back of the note there is the presense of a partial number at the exact same spot as the front.  When held up to light, these two numbers align to create a perfect denominational value.  In this case it would make out the number "100."

5) Raised Ink Printing (Intaglio Printing) -  Run your fingers along various parts of the note and feel the raised ink.  This note has many areas that are intaglio printed.  The "100" top left on hologram, the coat of arms on the hologram bottom left, the Bank of Canada inscription on the left verticle area, the maple leaves microprinted within the large denominational number on the right are all intaglio printed for your security.

6) Fine-Line Printing - Look at your bank note and notice that this series has more fine lines than any other Canadian banknote series and are visible on close inspection on both sides.  Look at it up close on both sides.  Those fine lines can not be reproduced on a fake note regardless of the technology that counterfeiters utilize.

7) Microprinting - The large denominational number on the right is a great security feature in and of itself.  Look into the large denominational number and you will see tiny maple leafs and tiny denominational value of the note in a slanted horizontal position.  The added security bonus is that the tiny maple leaves are intaglio printed which makes them 3D to the touch.  Also, a combination of Fine-Line Printing and Microprinting can be seen throughout the note where there are little tiny banners sticking out of the note centre going towards the surface with the denominational value printed with alphanumeric printing and in both French and English.  This feature is impossible to print on a fake.

8) Fluorecent Secret Image - Under a fluorescent light there is a secret image that glows right on top of the portrait image.  On the $100 note the image shows the words "Banque Du Canada 100 Bank Of Canada" in a yellow and red tone.  The fibres in the paper also glow red and yellow under this type of light.

9) Serial Numbers - These numbers are printed on the back of the note.

10) Visually Impaired Security Marks - On all the Canadian Journey notes there are various braille-like marks on the top right of the bill in order for the visually impaired to determine the value of the notes. 

11) Colours - Have you noticed the colour on the new Canadian Journey's notes.  Are they not the most beautiful colour you have ever seen on a banknote.  Just look at the colour of a real note - uncirculated or damaged - and see that the colour is quite appealing to the eye.  There is no way for a reproduction to even come close to matching the brilliant and crisp colour on the authentic notes.

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THE ULTIMATE TEST - If you suspect that a note a customer gave you is a counterfeit but the customer insists it is real you should take the note and place it in water.  Pick it up and watch it disintegrate the way a piece of paper would when placed in water for a while.  A real note does not react like that in water.  Ink on a fake note may smear but will never smear or run on an authentic note.

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UPDATE #1: October 15, 2007

Store owners and the general public should be aware of the latest counterfeit scam that may fool you.  Counterfeiters are going to great lengths to pass on fakes that now they incorporate parts of a genuine note on to a fake note. You may be asking, doesn't that make the genuine note void?  No it does not!  All these thieves do is deposit the genuine notes (without hologram) into the ATM machine and then end up on my desk.  RCMP reports are made but because the notes are legal tender, and because Canada has bad regulations on proving guilt, these people get away with it and the genuine notes in question get mutilated by the bank of Canada after the customer gets all the money credited to their account.  Note the following:

New Scam #1) Hologram scam - as much as this sounds extremely stupid, counterfeiters waste their time by cutting out the hologram of a genuine note, let's say a $20.00, and they glue it on to their fake bills to pass along to unsuspecting merchants.  People are getting scammed because most Canadians now know that the foil hologram must shift with millions of colours (or like a rainbow) and without inspecting the note any further, the merchant accepts it as genuine because they accept it as per the knowledge that he has.  Little does he know, he just accpeted a fake with a real hologram.

The trick is obvious.  NO PART of a note should feel like it is not uniform or feel heavier than another part of the note.  If you run your finger nail horizontally over the hologram and it feels kind of like a "sticker" (i.e. a piece of paper glued on to another piece of paper) then it is FAKE.  You will never ever feel the hologram stripe on the note as being glued on.  It is SEAMLESS.  Also, these guys do a very shoddy job on the glueing on of this genuine hologram to the fake.

If your note looks tampered just DON'T ACCEPT IT!

New Scam #2) Security thread scam - Same idea as the hologram scam.  These guys know that Canadians are aware of the microprinting of the security thread so are cutting the security thread area of a genuine note and gluing it on the back of a fake note to make it appear that the note is genuine.

Again, be cautious.  Make it a habit of trying to quickly find the security features of a note before accepting it as a merchant or as a consumer.  Remember on a quick glance, our Journey Notes has five readily identifiable security features just on the right hand side alone that you can identify within 3 seconds.  Our notes are very safe but you must always be vigilante.

**Other scams** 

So far, a watermark scam has not come accross my desk yet.  I have heard that some are out there in Canada and the scam is as follows:  A watermark will actually appear drawn in so that you can see the image of the Queen (or other figures) in the white area of the note (right-hand side) even if it's not in a direct light source.  On a genuine note, this watermark only becomes visible when you put the note in front of a light source and should not be visible otherwise or look like a pencil drawing.  Also remember that there are two watermarks featured on the latest series.  For example, the $20 bill has a watermark of the Queen and a number 20 to her left.

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UPDATE #2: February 1, 2008

What happens to counterfeit banknotes in Canada? - In Canada there are rules that both the general public and merchants must follow when a counterfeit note is in ones possession.  The below scenarios will outline the responsibility of all parties and will outline what happens to a counterfeit note once it has been established as such.

If a counterfeit note is deposited in the ATM machine:  I used to work for a company that verified bank deposits via ATM machines.  I currently work as a currency wholesaler but I will outline the exact procedures of what happens if you deposit a counterfeit via the bank machine. 

When a counterfeit is detected in an ATM envelope, the counterfeit is verified as non-genuine by the person verifying your envelope and the maneger.  After the note is determined to be fake, an RCMP report is filled out with all the particulars including obviously your information.  This does not mean that you are guilty of anything.  The RCMP, the bank and you need to know that this has occured and must be easily tracked down.

The counterfeit amount will be immediately debited from your account and there is no way for you to dispute the debit until after the RCMP has conducted its investigation.  If, for some reason, the verifiers and the manager were wrong, the RCMP will work with the bank to credit your account. 

If a counterfeit note is passed and you are unaware it was fake: The merchant must explain to you that the note in question is "suspect" or if they are more familliar with the note, like I am, to state outright that the note is counterfeit.  The merchant will have to hold on to said note and hand it over to the RCMP and have you fill out a form (usually an RCMP form) indicating serial number, denomination, your information, store information, etc...  It is ILLEGAL at this point for you to request the banknote back from the merchants possession especially if the note is "suspected of being a counterfeit" or if it truly is a counterfeit.  Filling out the store form or RCMP form it does not mean that you did anything wrong nor that you are guilty of counterfeitng.  It is the RCMP who will have to conduct an investigation on the note itself in order to pinpoint the origins of the counterfeit.

Also, you can not, under any circumstances claim that you got the note from the previous merchant you dealt with because there is no proof since you yourself did not take time to check your money you received as change from another merchant.  Unless you check every banknote the merchant handed over to you right in front of him or her, then there is no way for you to file a claim or to blame that merchant. How can it be proved?

If you insist that the note is genuine and you want it back, the merchant is obliged by law at this point to contact the police because he is currently in possession of a counterfeit and now is not allowed to knowingly pass a counterfeit bill even if you think it is real.  Reputable merchants have procedures in place for such disputes.

Having said the above, if a merchant was to give you change, and in front of the merchant you felt that the note was counterfeit, you must advise the merchant right there and then and only then is the merchant obliged to give you an alternate note.  In this case you must give the merchant the suspect note as he must make the police report.  Again, you are not allowed to hold on to, carry or have in your possession a counterfeit note for any reason.  If however you walk away from the cash counter, turn your back, then try to claim that the merchant gave you a fake note, it would be more difficult for you to prove.  Always verify in front of the merchant you are dealing with.  Once you turn your back, there is no proof that the counterfeit came from that store.

If you knowingly pass a counterfeit note: Let's say you spent a day out shopping and upon arriving at home, you notice a banknote that looks fake.  Upon closer inspection you know that, without a doubt it is counterfeit.  The law states that you have one obligation.  That is, you must contact and hand over to the police the counterfeit note in question.  Anyone caught passing counterfeit notes may face fines and a jail sentence.  This may seem hard to prove but has happened.  Do not under any circumstance think that it will be OK to just pass a fake note to the next unsuspecting merchant.

If you recieve a counterfeit note from the ATM machine: For the most part, bank machines are safe but there have been stories of counterfeit being withdrawn from ATM machines accross the country a few times a year.  Counterfeit notes from ATM machines are hard to verify and the bank will have to conduct its own investigation on your dispute because there are some prople out there who will try to take advantage and claim that a counterfeit was dispensed by the bank machine when that person knows that to be a false claim.  It is up to the bank to decide the outcome of such a dispute.  It is wise however to also make a police report.  The more information the better in order to track down the origin of the note.