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Dec 16, 2021 1:25:06 PM |

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Banknotes and Anti Counterfeit

Protection in the United States

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The American dollar is now considered one of the strongest currencies

in the world. There are several countries that have pinned their own
currency to the US dollar or use it as an official currency. It is hard to
imagine a time that it was ever questioned or that counterfeit
banknotes would be created by its own people especially since there
are so many anti counterfeit securities protecting the well-known
green note today.

Just like
Type U-NICA’s
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Hit enter anti counterfeiting
to submit or escape to protection,
protection
close. , the United
States has also adapted to fight off counterfeiters throughout the years.
American Banknotes and the History of the
USA
The United States’ banknotes has a rich history despite how young the
country is and this history starts before the United States even became the
United States. The numerous changes to American society definitely left
open the door for counterfeit banknotes and counterfeiters.

Colonial America
Before 1776, America was a colony of England. This colonial period was the
start to currencies in America. When 21st century people think “currency,”
the first image that comes to mind is paper money.

Back in the colonial period, the biggest form of payment was actually coin
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over paper. Since it was rare to interact with paper, there was a high threat
of counterfeits in the system. This led the authorities to issue a grave
warning: “to counterfeit is death.” However, as tensions ran higher between
the colonists and England, their focus was less on warnings and more on
independence.

The Period of Independence

The United States proclaimed independence in 1776. After 7 years of war
with England,
England, the Americans saw a vast amount of different types of
currencies as a new country. Before the current Constitution was
implemented, the US had the Articles of Confederation. Under this
document, each state had the right to create their own currency,
currency, which led
to a wide range of unbacked currencies. In 1787
1787,, a few years after true
independence from England, the politicians decided a new governmental
document was needed for a variety of reasons, one being to prevent the
flood of different paper currencies.
currencies.

The Start of the Modern American

Currency
This flood of currencies, real or counterfeit, led to the creation of the
Constitution, which ended up giving private banks control. Needless to say,
there was still no standardized currency.

It wasn’t until the American Civil War in the 1860s that led to a one currency
system created by the National Banking Acts.
Acts. The federal government, or
the Union during the Civil War,
War, introduced “greenbacks,” but it wasn’t until
1914 that the current “greenbacks,” which Americans and many other
nationalities use today,
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History of Counterfeit Banknotes
in the USA
As you can imagine with so many different types of banknotes floating
through America throughout its short history, there was also a flood of
counterfeits. Even though the US federal government passed an anti
counterfeiting law in 1790,
1790, and many more legislative measures since then,
counterfeiters persisted.

It is estimated that one-third of the American currency circulating by the

1860s was counterfeit.
counterfeit. This has led to quite a lot of artifacts that modern
day collectors seek. Did you know that the only counterfeit banknote a
person is legally allowed to own and collect are forgeries made anytime
before the American Civil War?
War?

Collectible Counterfeit Currency

Just like modern anti counterfeit techniques, the people during colonial
America had to detect forgeries by looking for misshaped words or irregular
spaces. When a counterfeit was found, a large “X”
“X” was placed or
“counterfeit” was written on it during the colonial period.

At the end of colonial era and through the beginning of America, an historic
counterfeiter was Stephen Burroughs who left a trail of forgeries in the
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United Stateshere.
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because they caught
him actively passing out fakes, but he managed to escape.
Since Burroughs, private banks printed currencies left and right resulting in
an increase in counterfeit banknotes. Just like modern companies, those
private banks implemented anti counterfeiting strategies as best they could.
They recognized that if their reputation was destroyed by forgeries, they
would lose customers to another bank.

However, as much as those private banks tried, those counterfeit

banknotes are still around today with only a few true originals in existence.
Along with the colonial counterfeits, these are the only ones that can be
collected and kept.

Even though currency from the late 1800s is by no means in use or in

circulation today, it is highly illegal to own a counterfeit banknote from that
time period. The Secret Service, known today as security detail for the
President, was founded in 1865 as an anti counterfeiting force. A historic
counterfeiter from 1878 onward was Emanuel Ninger.
Ninger. Unlike Burroughs,
Ninger’s downfall was the same as some counterfeiters today, running ink
after the paper got wet.

The Current Counterfeit Situation in

the USA
Today, the American government places more emphasis on catching
counterfeiters than they did during Burrough’s and Ninger’s time. Even still,
roughly one out of every 10,000 banknotes in circulation is counterfeit,
counterfeit, the
majority of which are made with regular inkjets or other printers.
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Further, US officials believe there are $45 million super dollars in circulation.
circulation.
Super dollars or super notes are extremely high quality US counterfeits
made by organizations or foreign governments and can be determined only
be professionals.

The Secret Service continues to offer information on how to authenticate

your currency.
currency. They also break down modern day bills so you can detect
fakes on your own. This method allows the every day person to be an
extension of the agency in the fight against counterfeits. But, it is definitely
not the only method that should be utilized when combating the tenacity of
counterfeiters.

U-NICA and Anti Counterfeit

Solutions
If there is a will, there is a way, says the old cliché. And this is very true for
many counterfeiters throughout history.
history. The United States is 245 years old
and within these years, they have had an abundance of paper banknotes
and a flood of counterfeits.

But, America adapted to counterfeiters and improved their anti

counterfeiting strategy. Unfortunately, many businesses do not have 250
years to spare to perfect their brand protection against forgeries. This is
where U-NICA can help.

U-NICA offers a multi-layered approach when it comes to anti

counterfeiting.. Each strategy is custom-made for that business and product
counterfeiting
and when new data emerges, the strategy updated. For digital product
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protection,
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offers toscryptoTRACE®
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suite and for physical product
protection, there is the plastoTRACE® suite.
suite. In addition, U-NICA provides
the Digital Security Label® that can be authenticated with an app on a
smartphone. Just like America’s Security Service, this allows the average
consumer to verify if a product is real or a fake.

The goal of U-NICA is to have as many layers and anti counterfeiting

solutions in place throughout the supply chain from manufacturing to the
end consumer. Contact U-NICA today to speak with a representative about
your specific business and or product need in the fight to combat
counterfeits.

Global Security Solutions

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