From alt.2600...
In article 8imYglW00iV8M5q0dV@andrew.cmu.edu, Andrew Lewis Tepper <at15+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
Imbedded in 1991 series $20 bills (and I assume all later and higher bills) are thin plastic(?) strips with metallic writing on them. If you're careful you can remove them with a razorblade by slitting the bill's top edge and gently pulling it out. I've heard that airports will soon have "Money Detectors" that will count total cash carried per person. I'd like to figure out how the system works. I also think it would be cool for people to collect all the strips in any money they ever came in contact with and keep those in their wallets. Soon it would look like everyone was walking around with $100K's of cash, rendering their system useless.
Andy
In article oh9@crl2.crl.com, eric@crl.com (Eric Fredricksen) writes:
Anarch (anarch@cse.ucsc.edu) wrote: : They're in tens, too (don't know about ones and fives). I've never been : able to remove one completely, but I've exposed the ends. Do you know : how many there are in each bill, and where? I know in tens there's at : least one, about a fifth of the way in from the left side (looking at : the front).
They're easy to remove. Just rip the bill diagonally from the edge to the strip on either side of it, and pull the little triangle you just made. The strip comes with it. Show it to your friends.
Assuming this is true, it would seem that even good, old fashioned, paper currency doesn't provide the level of anonymity that one would think. Scary... Dana W. Albrecht dwa@mirage.svl.trw.com