A Guide To Money Counting Machines And How They Detect Counterfeit Bills

The majority of banks and companies are constantly searching for counterfeit currency.  Unfortunately, the volume of counterfeit bills available makes it impossible to check the currency by hand, and make fake bills will pass by undetected.  Luckily, various security features can be implemented into the manufacturing and printing of modern paper currency. In today’s society, money counting machines employ numerous counterfeit detection technologies to effectively identify counterfeit bills before they can enter the financial economy.  This article will discuss the three most popular money counting machines detecting counterfeit bills.

  1.  The Ultraviolet Detection Machine

The majority of countries nowadays, including Canada, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom, utilize inks containing ultraviolet fluorescent phosphors when printing paper currency.  For example, all paper currency in the US contains a vertical florescent stripe that is invisible to a person’s eye; however, it will glow brightly when placed under ultraviolet light. The UV light is one of the most commonplace options to detect counterfeit currency.  It is utilized in money counting machines because of its affordability, simplicity, and effectiveness. Replicating these UV features is complicated, but it is not impossible; therefore, while UV lights are excellent detection method they cannot be considered 100% effective for counterfeit bill detection.

  1.  The Magnetic Detection Option

In addition to the ultraviolet detection machine, the majority of nations introduce the use of magnetic inks in paper bills.  The money counting machines equipped with magnetic detection scan each of the bills for the magnetic elements in the iron particles of the ink dye.  Similar to ultraviolet, magnetic detection is effective; however, it does have certain disadvantages.  Certain counterfeiters have identified methods of utilizing magnetic ink printers to fool these detectors.  Furthermore, the magnetic elements in the currency can degrade over time with constant usage; thereby, resulting in real currency being identified as counterfeit.

  1.  The Infrared Detection

Not as common as the above types of counterfeit currency detection techniques, the infrared detection option involves the use of infrared inks that are extremely complicated for counterfeiters to replicate in bills.  Bills printed with infrared inks can reflect or absorb the infrared light; however, a coin counter machine with infrared technology will utilize sensors that detect the presence of these inks allowing the machine to identify counterfeit currency from legitimate bills.  

The less commonly used currency security technology used to detect counterfeit currency is color-image sensing, infrared thickness technology, watermarks, metal thread coding, paper composition, and various other methods.  For many companies, however, the utilization of three or more of these detection methods will prove to be both cost-effective and highly effective.

David Jackson
