1. MONEY
OCTOBER 2012

2. BANKNOTES
• When to print and how much to print? Who
decides?
• The European Central Bank
• National authorities are in charge of printing the notes and
minting coins.

3. BANKNOTES
• All euro banknotes are exactly the same, except for
their serial numbers.
• But coins have national designs.
• One side of euro coins is the same in all countries – this is
called the common side. It shows different maps of the
European Union. The other has a different
design, depending on the country that issued it — this is
called the national side. The design usually depicts some
aspect o the country’s history, art or nature and other
themes.

4. COUNTERFEIT MONEY
• Fake money

5. HOW TO IDENTIFY
COUNTERFEIT MONEY
• Paper quality
• E.g. The Euro notes are made of 100% cotton material. This
makes the notes feel hard, stiff and firm when touched.
• Micro fibers woven into the paper
• E.g. U.S. bills are made of 75% cotton and 25% linen. If you
hold a U.S. bill under the light, you can see blue and red
micro fibers woven into the paper, usually at the ends of the
money. Hence, U.S. bills have a special feel and look.
• Counterfeiters use ink on the surface, instead of treads
woven into the paper itself.

6. HOW TO IDENTIFY COUNTERFEIT
MONEY
• Clear and sharp pictures. Fake money often is
blurry. If the money looks dull, but is clearly new,
that’s a sign it’s counterfeited.
• If you hold the Euro against plain light and look for
the whole denomination number on all corners on
both sides, the number looks perfectly printed.
There is also a dark security stripe across the note.

7. HOW TO IDENTIFY COUNTERFEIT
MONEY
• Hologram symbol.
• The hologram image changes from the value number to a
window or to a door symbol interchangeably. On the back
of the euro note, the denomination number changes from
purple to green.

8. HOW TO IDENTIFY COUNTERFEIT
MONEY
• Uniform size and features. If you put a stack of bills
of the same denomination, they should look the
same.

9. TOOLS USED
• Visual inspection (see and touch)
• Ultraviolet detection

10. PENALTY TO
COUNTERFEITING CURRENCY
• At least eight years of prison in every member state.

11. WHAT TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE
COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY?
• Notify the police.
• Using or returning counterfeit money is just as illegal
as manufacturing it.
• Failure to seize or report counterfeit currency is
subject to a fine of up to 100,000 euro.