3 ms·

FWIW banks will record serial numbers of bills that go missing after a robbery.

jhall1468 9y ago
And then it gets laundered and stays stolen. But that's only banks.
refurb 9y ago
Is that actually true? I've heard it as well, but it seems like an impossible task for a bank. Are they scanning all the bills that come in? Which bills are in which teller's drawer? I doubt it. If they received new bills in sequential order from the mint and had them stolen, I could see how they would know the numbers. But then again, what's the point? Your average business isn't going to scan numbers, so by the time the bills pop up again, you have no idea the path they took. I've heard that serial numbers from ransom money would be recorded. That makes a bit more sense as they are one-time events and there is value in knowing if you find money it came via the ransom.
- enraged_camel 9y ago
  Yes, bills are scanned and the system checks to see if they are marked as stolen.
  - glenneroo 9y ago
    Is that why small bills are preferred? Because they are less likely to be scanned? Or is another Hollywood fallacy that I've come to believe?
  - refurb 9y ago
    Why? If they turn up stolen, what can they do with the info?
- musicPants 9y ago
  Tellers used to have at least one packet of money in each of their drawers that have their serial numbers recorded. If they get robbed they are supposed to include it depending on the relative safety of the situation. I believe new bills from the federal reserve are also sequential and an inventory of those are probably recorded when they are accepted and counts are verified. At least that is how I remember it from about 15 years ago.
dragonwriter 9y ago
I’ve heard that's true of some of the serial numbers of bills stolen, but only because banks track a small and segregated set of bills in each tellers drawers, not because they track all serial numbers, and isn't used so much to find thieves and to confirm them once other mechanisms have caught them.

And then it gets laundered and stays stolen. But that's only banks.

Is that actually true? I've heard it as well, but it seems like an impossible task for a bank. Are they scanning all the bills that come in? Which bills are in which teller's drawer? I doubt it. If they received new bills in sequential order from the mint and had them stolen, I could see how they would know the numbers. But then again, what's the point? Your average business isn't going to scan numbers, so by the time the bills pop up again, you have no idea the path they took. I've heard that serial numbers from ransom money would be recorded. That makes a bit more sense as they are one-time events and there is value in knowing if you find money it came via the ransom.

enraged_camel 9y ago
Yes, bills are scanned and the system checks to see if they are marked as stolen.
- glenneroo 9y ago
  Is that why small bills are preferred? Because they are less likely to be scanned? Or is another Hollywood fallacy that I've come to believe?
- refurb 9y ago
  Why? If they turn up stolen, what can they do with the info?
musicPants 9y ago
Tellers used to have at least one packet of money in each of their drawers that have their serial numbers recorded. If they get robbed they are supposed to include it depending on the relative safety of the situation. I believe new bills from the federal reserve are also sequential and an inventory of those are probably recorded when they are accepted and counts are verified. At least that is how I remember it from about 15 years ago.

dragonwriter 9y ago

I’ve heard that's true of some of the serial numbers of bills stolen, but only because banks track a small and segregated set of bills in each tellers drawers, not because they track all serial numbers, and isn't used so much to find thieves and to confirm them once other mechanisms have caught them.