4 ms·

Isn't that why actual money has all those fancy strips and bumps? Canada just introduced $100 polymer notes this week. It's even partially transparent. Good luc

by kijin 15y ago

Isn't that why actual money has all those fancy strips and bumps? Canada just introduced $100 polymer notes this week. It's even partially transparent. Good luck faking that with consumer-grade laser printers. (Color inkjets might work better on transparent sheets.)

sliverstorm 15y ago
Why on earth would anyone bother forging Canadian currency? Just ribbing on ya :p It is true, there are other preventative measures, but any one measure can be beaten. It's like computer security- any computer can be hacked, it's just a game of making it hard enough to hack that it is not worth it, or takes too long.
- kijin 15y ago
  Sure, any anti-counterfeit measure can be beaten, but it is certainly possible to design banknotes in such a way that consumer-grade printers can't produce anything remotely resembling a real banknote. Then there will be no excuse for spying on citizens' everyday printing activities. The fact that this alternative is not even on the table adds to the impression that the U.S. government, as usual, is trying to use Big Bro techniques as a quick fix instead of coming up with real solutions. BTW, I'm not sure if anyone prints fake Canadian money, but a few years ago some dude in Germany tried to print millions of dollars worth of fake Canadian Tire money :)
  - a3camero 15y ago
    I've seen counterfeit Canadian money. You can buy it in bulk from people at a discount to the face value... Many retailers in Canada have signs saying they'll refuse to take $100 bills (probably the reason for the recent roll-out of new $100 bills).
  - sliverstorm 15y ago
    I really doubt the government is regularly spying on your printing. The whole thing really seems like a very small issue to me. It just gives printers a "fingerprint" that can be referenced if needed. I suppose if "fingerprints" are so bad, we should probably outlaw ballistic analysis linking a bullet to the gun that fired it?
    - DanBC 15y ago
      > I really doubt the government is regularly spying on your printing. For some values of "the government" not including many governments; see $OPPRESSIVE_REGIME. There's a lot of stuff "the government" does now that would have been unthinkable before various terrorist bombing attempts. Really, forcing everyone to remove their shoes before boarding a plane? And, if you doubt that the US[1] spies on its own citizens you should have a look at the Echelon programme, where a legal loophole was used by the US to gather intelligence on its citizens. (The US gov can't do it legally, so they pass a name onto another gov involved in Echelon.) [1] US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
- mrtron 15y ago
  As a Canadian I can't stand your attempt at humour (sarcasm++). The Canadian mint actually produces a lot of coinage for other countries, is one of the most advanced in new techs, etc. They tend to sell out all of their collection coins, especially the large gold ones (including a 1kg coin). The game of making it hard enough/expensive enough to have it not worthwhile is the goal of every currency. The new 100$ bill definitely succeeds.
  - code_duck 15y ago
    The humor attempt falls a bit flat especially given that Canadian currency has been hovering near parity with (or above) US currency for years.
    - sliverstorm 15y ago
      Is that irony not part of the humor?
      - code_duck 15y ago
        I don't really see how it would be, based on what you wrote, but okay.
  - megablast 15y ago
    Interestingly the new polymer notes are made (or licensed) from Australia, who has had the notes since 1994, and make polymer notes for all the countries using plastic money (there are about 5 at the moment, including Vietnam and New Zealand). Of course Australians invented the plastic notes so they could go surfing with their wallets.
tomkarlo 15y ago
As long as there's older-style currency in circulation, a forger only has replicate those bills and not the new hotness... currency only tends to last a few years in active circulation (at most) but I'd assume that many people will still accept a bill from a style printed 10 or 20 years ago.
- sjwright 15y ago
  Generally when there is a major change to a currency (such as the move to polymer banknotes [an awesome Australian invention] in Australia 15 years ago) the old style bills only remain in circulation for a short period, perhaps a year or so. Within a couple of years, the old style notes become so exceptionally rare in everyday transactions that the presence of one raises eyebrows, and is inspected carefully. While our older style notes are technically still "legal tender", I doubt you'd find a single retailer across the country that would accept it.
  - SamReidHughes 15y ago
    In America retailers will accept older bills without question.
    - willyt 15y ago
      In Britain they won't. Our bank notes are officially withdrawn a few years after they are replaced with a new design at which point they can only be exchanged for new ones at banks. Even then I think there is a cut off point of ten years or so where you have to take your notes to the Bank of England if you want them exchanged for legal tender.
      - jcitme 15y ago
        Wow. In the USA, every once in a while you can even find a silver certificate, that someone probably put in the money supply unknowingly. The fact that our money is all the same size and color doesn't help much, I suppose...
    - 15y ago

by kijin 15y ago

sliverstorm 15y ago

Why on earth would anyone bother forging Canadian currency? Just ribbing on ya :p It is true, there are other preventative measures, but any one measure can be beaten. It's like computer security- any computer can be hacked, it's just a game of making it hard enough to hack that it is not worth it, or takes too long.

kijin 15y ago
Sure, any anti-counterfeit measure can be beaten, but it is certainly possible to design banknotes in such a way that consumer-grade printers can't produce anything remotely resembling a real banknote. Then there will be no excuse for spying on citizens' everyday printing activities. The fact that this alternative is not even on the table adds to the impression that the U.S. government, as usual, is trying to use Big Bro techniques as a quick fix instead of coming up with real solutions. BTW, I'm not sure if anyone prints fake Canadian money, but a few years ago some dude in Germany tried to print millions of dollars worth of fake Canadian Tire money :)
- a3camero 15y ago
  I've seen counterfeit Canadian money. You can buy it in bulk from people at a discount to the face value... Many retailers in Canada have signs saying they'll refuse to take $100 bills (probably the reason for the recent roll-out of new $100 bills).
- sliverstorm 15y ago
  I really doubt the government is regularly spying on your printing. The whole thing really seems like a very small issue to me. It just gives printers a "fingerprint" that can be referenced if needed. I suppose if "fingerprints" are so bad, we should probably outlaw ballistic analysis linking a bullet to the gun that fired it?
  - DanBC 15y ago
    > I really doubt the government is regularly spying on your printing. For some values of "the government" not including many governments; see $OPPRESSIVE_REGIME. There's a lot of stuff "the government" does now that would have been unthinkable before various terrorist bombing attempts. Really, forcing everyone to remove their shoes before boarding a plane? And, if you doubt that the US[1] spies on its own citizens you should have a look at the Echelon programme, where a legal loophole was used by the US to gather intelligence on its citizens. (The US gov can't do it legally, so they pass a name onto another gov involved in Echelon.) [1] US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
mrtron 15y ago
As a Canadian I can't stand your attempt at humour (sarcasm++). The Canadian mint actually produces a lot of coinage for other countries, is one of the most advanced in new techs, etc. They tend to sell out all of their collection coins, especially the large gold ones (including a 1kg coin). The game of making it hard enough/expensive enough to have it not worthwhile is the goal of every currency. The new 100$ bill definitely succeeds.
- code_duck 15y ago
  The humor attempt falls a bit flat especially given that Canadian currency has been hovering near parity with (or above) US currency for years.
  - sliverstorm 15y ago
    Is that irony not part of the humor?
    - code_duck 15y ago
      I don't really see how it would be, based on what you wrote, but okay.
- megablast 15y ago
  Interestingly the new polymer notes are made (or licensed) from Australia, who has had the notes since 1994, and make polymer notes for all the countries using plastic money (there are about 5 at the moment, including Vietnam and New Zealand). Of course Australians invented the plastic notes so they could go surfing with their wallets.

tomkarlo 15y ago

As long as there's older-style currency in circulation, a forger only has replicate those bills and not the new hotness... currency only tends to last a few years in active circulation (at most) but I'd assume that many people will still accept a bill from a style printed 10 or 20 years ago.

sjwright 15y ago
Generally when there is a major change to a currency (such as the move to polymer banknotes [an awesome Australian invention] in Australia 15 years ago) the old style bills only remain in circulation for a short period, perhaps a year or so. Within a couple of years, the old style notes become so exceptionally rare in everyday transactions that the presence of one raises eyebrows, and is inspected carefully. While our older style notes are technically still "legal tender", I doubt you'd find a single retailer across the country that would accept it.
- SamReidHughes 15y ago
  In America retailers will accept older bills without question.
  - willyt 15y ago
    In Britain they won't. Our bank notes are officially withdrawn a few years after they are replaced with a new design at which point they can only be exchanged for new ones at banks. Even then I think there is a cut off point of ten years or so where you have to take your notes to the Bank of England if you want them exchanged for legal tender.
    - jcitme 15y ago
      Wow. In the USA, every once in a while you can even find a silver certificate, that someone probably put in the money supply unknowingly. The fact that our money is all the same size and color doesn't help much, I suppose...
  - 15y ago