What's Wrong With This $100 Bill?

Photo: Partisan Pictures, Inc.

So, you think you know your Benjamins. Well, take a look at this one above and see if you can find anything wrong with it. It's a bit torn on the side (you can see that the pieces were a bit misaligned when taped back together), but otherwise it looks like a regular ol' $100 bill, right?

Wrong:

A $100 bill that began as $5 dollar bill, was bleached and reprinted illegally. The work of the United States Secret Service New York office extends far beyond the responsibility of protecting the President of the United States and foreign officials. The Electronic Crimes Task Force targets identity thieves, credit card fraudsters and counterfeiters worldwide.

via National Geographic - Thanks Minjae!

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still, every country i visited (before some of them got the euro) had different size bank notes for different values,smaller being less. It's a simple solution.

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This is where those embedded strips in newer bills come in handy. Even when someone "washes" a smaller bill and reprints it perfectly they can't change that little strip. A washed and reprinted bill will pass the marker test but the strip will still have the lower denomination on it. The strips are in a different position on each denomination too.

Also look for the watermark. Washing doesn't get rid of that either.

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When I was a cashier in the basement of a hotel, i processed about ten thousand in cash daily. The Secret Service gave me a little class on "how to spot a fake".
I loved that part of my job.

That link does not show how the hundred was crafted from a five. But there is this >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gflB9hO4ZuE&feature=player_embedded

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It would also help if the notes were made of polymer.
Very hard to forge if the "paper" is unavailable and if bleaching is tried (or even possible), there could be embossing and clear windows that would have to align with the fake printing.