Over the past few decades, the international phenomenon of counterfeiting of modern currency has slowly acquired such alarming proportions that it has turned into a serious problem for Governments the world over. In order to control this international criminal activity and protect the currencies of their respective countries, Governments around the world have been effecting changes in their currency notes from time to time.

The worldwide increase in the incidence of the production of counterfeit currency is taking place owing to the availability and advent of new technology in the form of powerful consumer image editing software, high-resolution scanners and other necessary computer equipment at very low prices. Such technology has made it very easy for the counterfeiters to prepare duplications of the designs and images imprinted on the modern currency. Taking up the challenge of tackling the growing threat of counterfeit currency very seriously, the Governments around the globe are taking firm steps to both control as well as prevent such duplication. Here, we talk about some such measures that are being undertaken worldwide.

The United States government in the late 80s issued 20, 50 and 100-dollar denominations with a "security strip" inside the bill. The security strip made of fluorescent plastic was embedded in the bill itself. The strips run from top to bottom and can be easily read under a fluorescent light bulb. The denomination of the bill was written on the strip, to prevent counterfeiters from "upgrading" lower denominations of the bill to higher denominations by "washing" the ink from the paper and reprinting the graphics of the bill using dye sub or laser printers.

Another method used by the United States government was the water marking system. The latest bills issued by the treasury have images embedded in the currency's paper. The watermark image can be viewed under a light source.

The image in the watermark should match the image of the president on the bill. The $100 bill has Benjamin Franklin as the standard and the watermark image. Some currency notes such as the $5 bills have been counterfeited to $100 bills. This bill is a carbon copy of the genuine one, but under scrutiny, the watermark image will reveal Lincoln's face as per the $5 bills and the true colors of the fake currency.

The third example of one of the latest preventive measures used internationally to control the production of counterfeit currency, is the use of special inks in printing the actual currency. Such inks help to show up different colours in the genuine currency notes when they are viewed from different angles. For instance, the same currency note that appears to be light green in colour when looked at from the left angle, seems to acquire a blackish hue instead of the earlier greenish one, when we look at it from the right angle. What makes this latest printing method extremely difficult to replicate for the counterfeiters, is the use of a special compound that they soon realize, is very hard to manufacture.

These, then, are some of the latest security measures in practice in the United States to control the rising incidence of counterfeit US currency. However, this battle is far from over, as the counterfeiters keep on finding new and better ways to ensure the continuation of their illegal trade with the help of the latest technology. Keeping this in mind, we shall continue our research in this direction in order to keep you posted about the fresher challenges faced by the US Government in this battle and how they measure up to the efforts of the counterfeiters in ensuring the victory of the genuine US dollar.

Copyright 2006, Devon Valenta, All Rights Reserved. This article may be published on web sites or in newsletters provided this notice and the resource box is included without ammendment.