Is my $20 counterfeit?

[piku]

My mom payed me back a $20 she borrowed from me a while ago and I noticed something interesting about the serial number when I tried to put it through wheresgeorge.com - there is no letter at the end of the number - instead its a star. I haven't encountered this ever before, and I have put a ton of bills through it.

And another interesting thing about the bill - the watermarks are off. Both the strip and Jackson are shifted a bit towards the right. I randomly went through the 20 or so $20's on hand that I have and this bill doesn't line up with any of them.

My mom even got this bill straight from the bank... anyone have any idea what may be up? Should I quickly spend this bill?

 

[Electric Amish]

Does it have the nylon strip on one side, sewn into the paper??

amish

 

[JohnnyKnoxville]

If it has a picture of Jesse Jackson on it ,safe bet its counterfeit

 

[Ladies Man]

machine could have been off when printing or cutting it

or its fake

either way i'd spend it asap!

 

[bacillus]

<< Should I quickly spend this bill? >>


if it's counterfeit then you may be considered guilty of try to pass off fake currency!

 

[Noirish]

if you send it to me, i bet i can tell if it's fake or real.

 

[igowerf]

I was got a fake 10 at my high school. The lunch lady gave it to me as change for a 20. When I tried to spend it the next day, she found that it was counterfeit and wouldn't let me.

 

[thaRealest]

SCAN IT for us to SEEEEE!

 

[piku]

Yeah, the strip and watermark and everything is there, its just shifted to the right.

I'll scan it in a second...

 

[Zorro]

Call secret service. Put momma in jail.

 

[Talon]

Try this site. http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/index.htm?money_detect.htm&1

As for the star, I found this:

Q. I have a question that I was hoping you'd help me with. In change today, I received a $1.00 bill from the 1995 series. The serial number ends in an * instead of a letter.(J02998053*) Can you tell me why and if it will be worth anything. I have never seen this before.
A. You have a star note! Referred to as such because of the star at the end or beginning of the serial number. Also called a replacement note. This is done to indicated that the original note was destroyed due to some type of error. Older star notes are a collectible item; though newer star notes are collected, they are worth very little over face value and are desired in uncirculated condition.

 

[piku]

Thank you Talon

Its just from 1996, so I guess its pointless keeping it...

 

[Logix]

Damn, I'd love to have a counterfeit bill... But not for 20 bucks.

Give us da pics!

 

[Talon]

More information about star notes.

http://www.bep.treas.gov/document.cfm/5/44/126

 

[piku]

bill pic

You can't see either watermark though... I'm not sure how I could go about getting them to show up.

(edit: I can get a much bigger scan or do the back or whatever if any of you want)

 

[Talon]

piku,

You have pm. Don't scan and post the back.

 

[kranky]

Talon is exactly right. Star notes are made to replace notes which were not issued due to printing errors. They are not considered rare.

 

[yakko]

I remember trying to find out the answer to this before the internet was the vast information storehouse it is today.

 

[jpsj82]

"Talon is exactly right. Star notes are made to replace notes which were not issued due to printing errors. They are not considered rare."

however they are rare enough that you don't see them often (I have never got one in my change before and I always look for things like this). many of the star notes that are made are directly sold to collectors. so the number of them in circulation is a lot smaller then the number produced.

 

[piku]

Talon, thanks for the copyright reads up

 

[AmazonRasta]

You ever see the back of a twenty dollar bill... ON WEED? Oh, there's some crazy sh!t, man! There's a dude in the bushes. Has he got a gun? I dunno! RED TEAM GO, RED TEAM GO!

 

[gygheyzeus]

amazon, what movie is that from again? I need to go watch that, that movie is great. i just cant think of the name.

 

[AmazonRasta]

Half-Baked d00d.

 

[realmie]

is it just me or does that pattern behind jackson's head look a lot like wood grain? the 20 dollar bills i've looked at have a very subtle wave pattern and just appears to be gray from far away... but this bill's backfround looks weird.

 

[Talon]

I think that as part of currency's security measures, there are certain patterns (halftone?) used that cannot be properly reproduced by most scanners. It produces sort of a moire effect instead.