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What not to put in caches


briansnat

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Yep. Newbie cacher logged a cache of mine and mentioned that he left a counterfeit $10 bill that he received as a tip at work.

 

I went there to remove it and sure enough there was a very real looking tenner. Had he not mentioned that it was counterfeit I may not have known. The feel was a bit wrong and there was no watermark, but other than that it looked so much like the real McCoy that I'm sure that had another cacher taken it without reading the log, there is a chance he might have wound up being lead out of a store in handcuffs.

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It amazes me that people would take the risk to fake small denomination bills. I declined to take a couple of $5's from a customer the other day at work the paper just felt and looked wrong, and I told them just that. I'm positive they were fakies, and my customer had probably been given them as change from somewhere else. I spotted a nice looking 20 in their wallet and just said "why don't we take it out of that instead?"

 

They didn't argue, and I wasn't faced with embarrassing them in front of friends and family. I hope they heard what I was saying and took note.

When you handle a lot of currency you get a sense how it should look/feel.

Edited by wimseyguy
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I'll bet the police ask you where you got it, and how you got it, and from who. If it were me, I'd either burn it to destroy it, OR... I'd notify the cacher that I'm turning it over to the police and I'd appreciate it if they would meet me at the station to explain things.

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Yep. Newbie cacher logged a cache of mine and mentioned that he left a counterfeit $10 bill that he received as a tip at work.

 

I went there to remove it and sure enough there was a very real looking tenner. Had he not mentioned that it was counterfeit I may not have known. The feel was a bit wrong and there was no watermark, but other than that it looked so much like the real McCoy that I'm sure that had another cacher taken it without reading the log, there is a chance he might have wound up being lead out of a store in handcuffs.

 

Worth noting. If I noticed it happening again (on any cache) I would probably send them a note asking what's the deal.

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To me, a non-American, all of your money looks counterfeit. Where is the colour? :(

 

Tell me about it. Every so often an idea is thrown around about jazzing up our bills but it always gets shot down. I like the idea of different colors for different denominations (like so much of the world) makes it quick and easy. That will be one purple and two oranges please! :laughing:

 

Greenbacks. ;) Boring!! Our old food stamps were more creative than our actual money.

images-2.jpg

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To me, a non-American, all of your money looks counterfeit. Where is the colour? ;)

 

Tell me about it. Every so often an idea is thrown around about jazzing up our bills but it always gets shot down.

everytime theres a change, all those bill acceptors need to be rechipped. if you own a vending route its a big pain to redo everything.

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With British money, it's easy to see what you got. A £5 is green, a £10 is orange, and a £20 purple. They also increase in size depending on their denomination, which helps blind people to know what they're holding.

 

British-Pounds.jpg

 

Back on-topic, if I were to find counterfeit money in a cache, and not know it was counterfeit, and then spend it, and get 'found out', I'd probably just say that I can't remember where I got that particular note from. Being tricked into using counterfeit money isn't a crime, is it?

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Producing it is illegal.

 

http://www.secretservice.gov/money_law.shtml

 

KNOW YOUR MONEY

It's the Law

Manufacturing counterfeit United States currency or altering genuine currency to increase its value is a violation of Title 18, Section 471 of the United States Code and is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 15 years, or both.

 

Possession of counterfeit United States obligations with fraudulent intent is a violation of Title 18, Section 472 of the United States Code and is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 15 years, or both.

 

Anyone who manufactures a counterfeit U.S. coin in any denomination above five cents is subject to the same penalties as all other counterfeiters. Anyone who alters a genuine coin to increase its numismatic value is in violation of Title 18, Section 331 of the United States Code, which is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

 

Forging, altering, or trafficking in United States Government checks, bonds or other obligations is a violation of Title 18, Section 510 of the United States Code and is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.

 

Printed reproductions, including photographs of paper currency, checks, bonds, postage stamps, revenue stamps, and securities of the United States and foreign governments (except under the conditions previously listed) are violations of Title 18, Section 474 of the United States Code. Violations are punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 15 years, or both.

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A couple times I've been stuck with $5 bill that didn't look or feel real because of some damage. I guess something like it being in bleach or weak acid by accident. One had turned bright blue on one side only. Store and gas station refused to accept them so I took them to my bank. Turned out they were real and just damaged so they exchanged them for me.

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I heard if you took all counterfeit US currency out of the US our economy would collapse!

 

Actually it would do nothing to the economy. Our economy is based on the amount of real bills in the system. Not on the amount of fake bills in it. So they really have nothing to do with our economy. If you took them out though a lot of people would get mad because they might have them in their pocket.

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There's someone around here who puts monopoly money in a cache and logs,

"left 20. dollar bill" etc.

 

Kind of annoying really.

 

Leaving the counterfeit money is just irresponsible. Someone else could have gotten into trouble for it. A lot of people just download coordinates and don't even read the cache page.

 

Good for you Brainsnat for realizing it was there and running out and getting it!!!

 

The topic seems to be things in general not to leave in the cache, and we've ended up discussing this one incident.

 

I'm not sure what is not covered in the rules already though.

No food, no smelly items (so animals don't get into the container), no knives, nothing not child friendly, not sure what else.

 

I have found stuff in caches like lighters and knives though. I take them out. I do trade for them, because someone traded them in there to start with.

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I am a LEO and have seen a big increase in counterfeit money over the last few years. So much so that the Secret Service has to be notified for every bill we bring in and fairly quick after. It didnt used to be as urgent. People counterfeit smaller denomination bills like that do it because they are easier to pass off. If you went into Wal-Mart right now and paid with a 5 or 10 they would probably just throw it in the drawer. Bust out a 20 or higher and it gets hit with the detection pen.

 

Oh, and yes Knight, possessing it is absolutely illegal whether you have the intent to use it or not.

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I am a LEO and have seen a big increase in counterfeit money over the last few years. So much so that the Secret Service has to be notified for every bill we bring in and fairly quick after. It didnt used to be as urgent. People counterfeit smaller denomination bills like that do it because they are easier to pass off. If you went into Wal-Mart right now and paid with a 5 or 10 they would probably just throw it in the drawer. Bust out a 20 or higher and it gets hit with the detection pen.

 

Oh, and yes Knight, possessing it is absolutely illegal whether you have the intent to use it or not.

 

While reading a travel guide book for Beijing recently I noted a section which talking about counterfeit bills in China and how it's become quite a problem. The book suggested that that when exchanging currency asking for small denominations is recommended as many shops just won't accept larger denominations.

 

Awhile back Zimbabwe introduced a 100 Trillion dollar bill, which at the time was worth about $300 US. Now, you can buy one on the internet for $10.

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To me, a non-American, all of your money looks counterfeit. Where is the colour? :lol:

There is some color in the new American currency but is is not as colorful as currency from other countries. When I first saw the new $20 bills my first thought was 'Monopoly money!'. What I find interesting is the use of plastic instead of paper for bills in other countries. There are extra security features in new US currency and passports, some of which are very interesting. The whole money printing process (real and counterfeit) is quite complex and a topic worthy of research.

 

J.X.

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