Buying or Selling Old Money? Use This Guide!
It is an unfortunate reality, but greed has led many people and companies to resort to shady business practices. In the world of rare currency, the number one thing to watch out for is counterfeit money. Over the years, the methods of producing fake currency have been revised and enhanced. In order to keep up with technological advances in the industry that make it easier to track and spot fake pieces, criminals have become adept at developing new ways to scam people. Professional counterfeiting is a serious problem that has caused financial harm to thousands of buyers and sellers. If you are a currency dealer or a collector, it is important to remember to not take this issue lightly. Many people are over-confident in their ability to find fake pieces, only to find out they have been duped by an expert. The only credit that can be given to these masterminds is their ability to produce near genuine currency.
At the end of the day, however, even those pieces that bear the starkest resemblances to their genuine counterparts are not worth anything. Can you imagine what it must feel like to spend thousands of dollars on something that is worthless? Take a moment to process this, and then let the fact that this happens every day to unwary people sink in. To avoid this problem altogether, Antique Money Buyers has created an easy to use counterfeit guide. All of the information presented in the guide is used by currency dealer experts. In fact, this is the first resource we consult when inspecting images of old money that our customers send in. The best part of all is that the guide is free; we don’t believe it would be ethical to put a price tag on proper business methods. In a sense, we believe it is our duty to the industry as a means of eradicating the criminal enterprise of currency counterfeiting.
How to use the counterfeit guide
In general, most counterfeit pieces are easy to identify. The majority of fake currency is made to look vintage and antique. Criminals use a number of methods in this regard, but a quick way to tell if something is not real is by examining the physical paper. If the paper is brown and brittle or if it has a black overprint or a black backside, you can be sure that the piece is counterfeited. It does not require a lot of work to print fake money (in this respect), but it must be stated that many people do fall into the trap of buying these types of bills. This method is not exhaustive, however. To fully determine whether the “old money” you have is genuine, you will want to also inspect the serial numbers. Our guide details a full listing of fake serial numbers and their respective origins. Take the time to read through this list thoroughly before making any purchase, because it can potentially save you in the long run.
