Dollar Bill Test
Intro: Dollar Bill Test
There are many ways to check a dollar bill's authenticity. Here are some ways to see if your dollar bills are authentic or counterfeit.
STEP 1: Hold Bill to Light
This will work on $10 bills and $20 bills. I don't know if this applies to higher denominations like $50 bills and $100 bills. Please reply if you do know. This will not work on $1 bills, $2 bills, and $5 bills. Hold the dollar bill up to the light and if you see the President's face on the right side of the bill, it's authentic. If you don't see the President's face it's counterfeit.
STEP 2: The Ink Test
This will work on all denominations. This is commonly used to test lower denominations such as $1 bills, $2 bills, and $5 bills. Take a pen and make a streak on the dollar bill. If the ink shows the same color on the dollar bill, it's authentic. If it changes color it's counterfeit.
5 Comments
Lunera 12 years ago
The pen used is a counterfeit detector pen, the ink in which, is actually iodine, giving the yellowish color you normally see.
Why iodine, and why does it work? Iodine can be used as a chemical detector for the presence of starch, like what you would find in the paper made from wood, which is why it turns dark on most papers.
But why doesn't it change on money? Surely it's paper as well right? Yes, but it's made from cotton, lined, and a small percentage of 'rag' giving the blue and red specks you can see if you look really close. That paper has no starch.
BLUEBLOBS2 12 years ago
PhoenixC11 5 years ago
Also it does work with the $5, you just see a 5 that wasn't there before, not the president's face.
blueblobbs 12 years ago
-blueblobbs
iceng 12 years ago
Clearly see Hamilton's image :-)
A