Culturosity

This only starting to make the word-of-mouth rounds around the place and before too long you'll start hearing it on the news. There is an extremely high degree of counterfeit SINGLE dollar bills spreading like a virus in the country. I confiscated 5 bills from my 9 year-old daughters over the weekend. I told the people at the office and they started checking... one guy got one from a grocery and a girl had five she got from Pennywise. They're printing it on 1 dollar notes because they're never checked. Here's what to look for at a glance:

• The serial number - biggest giveaway - is in blue, not red as is all the other denominations
• The silver thread is hot foil-stamped onto the fake, not made into the woven paper/cotton substrate of the original
• The watermark leaves a noticeable mark as it is pressed onto the fake, not created into
  the woven paper/cotton substrate of the original

Not at a glance, but held up against the light:

• The watermark of the fake is a Scarlet Ibis, the original is a Coco Rico
• Next to the watermark is "T&T1", noticeably different from the original
• Diagonal line impressions on all four corners of the fake where the value of the bill is printed. On no other denomination is this present
• The silver thread "CBTT1" is thinner on the fake.

There are other differences you can spot when you compare the two. Do this right now, pull out your wallet and make a quick spot check. If you find it, carry it into the bank and request if there are supposed to be new bills in circulation. If they say no, turn over what you have to them. Generally the public is notified of newly circulated bills with whatever differences. I attached a pdf for you to scope out. Look at it, then check your money! Tell everybody else!

I have some key friends high up in the banking and finance sectors looking into this for me. So far it seems like news to them; they found some in their wallets too. We're not sure if Central Bank has released new notes but given that they always inform us in advance, this seems unlikely. If any of you is able to verify this, please share the knowledge. When I have more, I will update.