Aug
18
Do You Spot a Fake?
ByCounterfeiting is supposedly a problem in Central America. I can’t say I’ve had any problems to date. Maybe that’s because I get all my cash from the bank and I imagine they catch most of them. Anyway, the other day Maid #4 rejected one of the bills I paid her with. She insisted it was counterfeit. I’ve looked closely at it and have my own opinion. I’m posting below scans of two bills, the one she rejected and another one from my pocket. Both came from an ATM in the park. What do you think?
The bill the Maid rejected.
Another bill from my pocket.
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12 Comments
August 18th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Hmm, tough call. Perhaps just the difference between the new bills and old bills. They changed the design on the newer bill, and you see fewer and fewer of the old bills. But if you are still in doubt, you can always give it to the Bodegona for groceries or the bank for the electric bill.
August 18th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
The top bill looks like some I brought home with me in April. It is the lower one that I havent seen before but I got a feeling that both might be good.
August 18th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
i have had quite a few vendors are markets pull that on me, it was because it was a little ripped or something stupid, telling me that it's a fake and that they don't take it. and have you seen their money, it's all old, ripped and dirty!
August 18th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
There are several differences that I can see. It's like those kid's magazines… "Spot 10 differences with these pictures".
I saw the suspicion of money thing when I was there too. I was told that I could use American dollars in the grocery store. I pulled a $20 from my pocket, and was told I couldn't use it because there was an inkstain in the top corner. It was a brand new bill, and I got a little annoyed. After thinking about it and hearing of the corruption with money, I understood.
Live and learn.
August 18th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
The upper bill is older so it's hard to say whether the lower one is a redesign – maybe the bar on the right is supposed to make it harder to counterfeit? There's an example of a counterfeit 100Q bill posted behind the cashier station in Nim Po't. Maybe you can compare yours with theirs…
August 18th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
This brings back memories of the time the 2007 bills were ordered. Foreign printers were contracted and the government here collected most of the older notes and burned them. Unfortunately there were delays in delivery, so suddenly Guatemala had no money. This was just before Navidad too. The lines of frustrated foreign visitors at the ATMs in the parque central were a sight to see. Your cholera probably remembers this little crisis and is thus suspicious of the billete viejo.
When the 2007 bills were ordered
August 18th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Lots of businesses have little ultraviolet lamps to check if a bill is counterfeit or not. If it has fluorescence, it´s fake. There´s also some markers that work the same way: you make a mark on the bill and it´s supposed to be invisible if the bill is real.
The way we used to do it was to hold it up against the light. If you could distinctly see Tecún Umán´s face in the blank area (on the left), then it was good.
Money at the market is almost always torn and dirty (just check out where some people keep it), but they won´t take any torn or worn bills from you. Dollars are a whole other problem. In fact, at the bank they´ll make copies of the dollar bills they give you. Something about them covering their backs in case you use the money for illegal stuff.
August 18th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
WHAT ABOUT CHECKING OUT THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE INSTITUTION IN GUATEMALA IN CHARGE OF THE BILLS AND THEIR SECURITY?
http://www.banguat.gob.gt/inc/ver.asp?id=/Publica...
GOOD LUCK
August 18th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
WHAT ABOUT CHECKING OUT THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE INSTITUTION IN GUATEMALA IN CHARGE OF THE BILLS AND THEIR SECURITY?
August 20th, 2009 at 4:56 am
Hold it up to the light. It should have a clear Mayan face to the left (which is actually visible in the photo, probably meaning it IS fake) and a gold stripe running through the middle of the bill on the other side. You can also buy special pens that you can swipe across bills, they are colorless on real ones, black on fakes. We used them in the bar all the time and they are available at any papeleria.
August 24th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I believe the answer is they are both genuine. The bill without the foil stripe on it is simply an older bill, but there are still valid. I took the bill in question to the bank and they took it without hesitation. At PriceSmart the other day I saw the clerk scratching the new bills with her fingernail; there is one part of the new bills that have a slightly raised surface. Just a hint if you plan on printing any of your own.
November 27th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
[...] you want to look at a scan of some old money, go here. List what you see and if you find something I don’t, I’ll buy you a drink at RumBar [...]