Last Updated on May 11, 2022 by Fair Punishment Team
Today we are going to discover how to tell if a 2 Dollar bill is real. Making sure your hard-earned money is the real deal shouldn’t be something you have to go around worrying about.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of fake notes exchanged in society, so we’re here to ensure you’re not being ripped off.
Whilst there are plenty of fake bills that cover all manner of denominations; from $10, $50, and $100 bills, today we are going to focus on the $2 bill as these can be more difficult to discern from the real thing, as they do not contain some of the standard security features that are prominent for larger bills.
Even though the market value of $2 might not seem worth all the detective work, it still pays to check if your bill is legitimate to help reduce the circulation of these notes.
And once you’ve checked a few $2 notes you’ll be able to tell a real from a fake in less than 60 seconds.
What Is Counterfeit Money?
Fake money or counterfeit money are bills that are created by scammers to exchange goods for nothing.
In other words, they can make purchases or generate business transactions whilst not losing any real-life value money. The only legitimate bills you will find are printed by the government.
The truth is that counterfeiters have become experts at creating fake money to look real, especially the $2 bill which doesn’t have as many security features as higher denomination bills because of its lower value, which is why this guide has been put together for you.
Here is our comprehensive list of the ways to check your money is the real deal. We recommend you take a minute on each point and go on to the next one once you’ve completed the previous point.
Material And Raised Printing
The first thing to test is how the note feels in between your fingers. Most of us are used to the touch of a dollar bill and have some idea of what it should feel like.
United States currency is not made from paper, it’s made from one-fourth linen and three-fourths cotton. Your bill should not have a smooth papery feel to it and instead should have a slight roughness.
Each bill is made using intaglio printing, meaning that the inking has been raised and you can feel the engraving of the ink on the bill. The best place to check for intaglio printing is on the jacket of the person who resides on the bill, in our case Thomas Jefferson.
Feel over the jacket and you should notice that the jacket feels textured. If you compare this to a blank section of the bill you’ll notice that it’s much smoother.
Another great place to check is around the edges of the bill where you can find the patterning. It’s best to think of this section as the frame of the bill as it covers the outer edges that make up the contents of the bill.
It will feature the bill’s denomination as well as have the Federal Reserve Note stamp on the top of the frame.
These two areas are where bank tellers will typically check to make sure that they have received a legitimate bill. Now you can check there too.
Check Over The Imaging
If you know your Dollar bills, you’ll be aware that the president represented by the $2 bill is Thomas Jefferson and you can find him on the front of the United States bill.
What you might not know is that there is a vignette on the back of the bill, and each denomination from $1 to $100 has a different one of these.
Whilst a $20 bill has the White House and the $5 has the Lincoln Memorial, the $2 bill features the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Anything else shown and you’ve got yourself a fake bill.
Red And Blue Fibers
If you look closely, you should be able to notice red and blue fibers embedded on the bill. These can be a bit tricky to spot, and you might have to squint closely to see them, but they are there to see on real bills.
It’s good to note that this particular security feature is often overlooked by counterfeiters which helps to sort the real bills from the fake bills much more easily.
Federal Reserve Seal
This particular seal will vary between $1 and $2 bills to the rest of the currency, but for the $2 bill, there will be a Federal Reserve seal that is black on the left-hand side of the portrait.
This will show the letter and Federal Reserve Bank name that issued the particular currency.
Purchase A Counterfeit Detection Marker
What happens if you have an old bill and it’s hard to determine its legitimacy?
This can be especially difficult with the touch test as the intaglio printing has worn down over time or the bill has been folded and has a lot of wrinkles.
Here’s the solution: purchase a counterfeit detection marker.
The marker will react with the material of the bill and will change color depending on whether it is real or not.
A legitimate bill will turn the mark a golden color whereas a counterfeit note will turn the mark a darker shade of black or brown.
One thing to note before attempting this at home; don’t go crazy with the marking as whatever you draw on the bill is going to be permanent, and having a fully colored-in note is going to draw attention for all the wrong reasons!
At only the cost of a few Dollars, purchasing this marker will guarantee you peace of mind especially for those that handle a lot of cash, i.e. business owners.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it. Discovering the real deal can be an easy process that doesn’t need to take a lot of time. Go through each of these points and you’ll no longer have any confusion about a bill’s legitimacy!
