At first glance it does not seem easy to know if a bill is fake or not. But not impossible. The Bank of Spain gives the keys so that they do not hang it on us through its website. To make it more enjoyable, the BdE does it as if it were child’s play. Have you ever heard of the ‘touch, look, turn’ method? If not, you should take it into account in your day to day because, incredible as it may seem, cash is still the most used payment method in our country.
And it is that, despite having more and more payment methods at our disposal, as in the case of smart watches, most of the small payments that are made in stores are made with bills and coins. And here is the question. Would you know how to differentiate a fake bill from a legitimate one? well, the key is that
The Bank of Spain warns how to check if a bill is counterfeit
Euro banknotes incorporate security features that are difficult to counterfeit. This is because the security features on euro banknotes are becoming more and more effective. But anyone can also check the authenticity of the bills in his possession to avoid being a victim of a scam. And it is that its legitimacy can be verified in a simple way with the help of only three steps.
First of all, we will have to touch the ticket that we want to check. From the Bank of Spain they explain that the banknote is made, on the one hand, of cotton fiber, so that when shaking the banknote a characteristic sound is observed, very different from that of paper or cardboard. Another of the indisputable characteristics of euro banknotes is that relief elements can be detected on the obverse. For example, in the short lines on the side edges or in the large figure that indicates the value of the ticket.
What if I still have doubts?
It is best to observe. This is, without a doubt, the infallible trick. If when we hold it up to the light security elements are observed: the watermark is visible on both sides, a dark line that is the security thread and in the first series banknotes we see the main image of the same and in the second series , the portrait of the mythological princess of Europe. In addition, in the hologram on the right side you can see a window that becomes transparent to the light and shows a portrait.
Precisely in this sense, Juan Pablo Garnacho, from the Bank of Spain Banknote Analysis Unit, reveals that in case of any doubt “it must be delivered to any branch of the Bank of Spain, to the police authorities or any credit institution”. In any case, there are other security elements to verify authenticity, although special equipment is needed. This is the case of the microtext, some areas of the bill show a series of small characters that can be read with the help of a magnifying glass. The characters are not blurry, but sharp. Also, in ultraviolet light, the paper should not glow.
