I'd appreciate any opinions/info available on whether a rumor I heard is true or not. I just learned that US bills, $20 and above, have a magnetic strip embedded in the bill, on the left hand side. Looking at the front of the bill, under the "U" in United States, it's clearly visible on those bill printed in 1990 and thereafter. Supposedly, bills in the $5 and $10 amounts have started being fixed in such a way. Now...the interesting part. The rumor is that it is possible to detect, at a modest distance, the existance of and the amount of currancy being carried. Thus, if a person boarded an airplane carrying $12,000 in cash in a money belt, it would be possible to detect that fact. The rumor expands that this has in fact already been implemented at one airport (at least). Any thoughts?
David L Womack says:
I'd appreciate any opinions/info available on whether a rumor I heard is true or not.
I just learned that US bills, $20 and above, have a magnetic strip embedded in the bill, on the left hand side. Looking at the front of the bill, under the "U" in United States, it's clearly visible on those bill printed in 1990 and thereafter.
You didn't look very closely. Shine a light through the bill, and you will be able to read on the strip the words "TWENTY USA" on the strip in question. It isn't to my knowledge magnetic -- just non-xeroxable. There is also a second security feature -- look closely at the third ring around Andrew Jackson, and you will see that it is not a ring at all but microprinting reading "The United States of America". Perry
On Wed, 9 Mar 1994, David L Womack wrote:
. . . The rumor is that it is possible to detect, at a modest distance, the existance of and the amount of currancy being carried. Thus, if a person boarded an airplane carrying $12,000 in cash in a money belt, it would be possible to detect that fact. The rumor expands that this has in fact already been implemented at one airport (at least).
Any thoughts?
*IF* this is true, you will probably still have the "Taco Bell" solution available to you for the foreseeable future ("Run for the Border"). When that gets shut down, there will still be private aircraft and private yachts. But by that time, you'll be able to just send digital cash out of the country. S a n d y
participants (3)
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dwomack＠runner.utsa.edu -
Perry E. Metzger -
Sandy Sandfort