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$5 silver certificate notes-- are they real or fake

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US Silver Certificates2 of 371935B silver Certificate1935 silver certificate
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    Posted 8 years ago

    Tom619
    (1 item)

    1934D 1950C 1953A

    My wife took these three Silver Certificate $5
    bills that were left to her by her mother to the bank and they said because they do not pass the counterfeit pen test that they are most likely counterfeit, is this true? should they pass that test

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    Help us close this case. Add your knowledge below.

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    Comments

    1. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      Good question as those pens are designed for newer bills I'm sure. The 1950 is a Federal Reserve Note which many, including myself, consider the largest counterfeiting ring in history. The pens are nothing but a quick counter check & not foolproof. Not my field & hope somebody comes along on CW to enlighten us.
    2. Dizzydave Dizzydave, 8 years ago
      Different paper composition in the notes, pens won't work on them.
    3. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      Masha danki Dizzy. That's papiamento for, thank you very much. Of course we bastardize that to "mash u donkey". Good to have people who know things. They're in short supply where I live.
    4. Celiene Celiene, 8 years ago
      Talk to the bank manager. A 12 year old teller knows nothing.
    5. Efesgirl Efesgirl, 8 years ago
      Dizzydave is correct.

      http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n50a25.html

      The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 50, December 9, 2007, Article 25
      OLD PAPER MONEY AND COUNTERFEIT-DETECTING PENS

      [In an item last week about counterfeit-detecting pens, I
      wrote: "As noted in one of the earlier E-Sylum articles,
      the counterfeit pens come with a warning which says they
      don't work on money older than 1959."

      Tom DeLorey writes: "The paper was indeed changed circa
      1960, and the chemical properties of the older paper are
      such that the ruinous marking pens do not work on them."

      Dave Lange writes: "This is about the time that the BEP
      transitioned from the wet printing process to the dry
      printing process. It was phased in with the new series
      notes, while older series were still being printed
      simultaneously using the soon-to-be-obsolete technology.
      It's very likely that all wet-printed notes will fail
      the pen test."

      [Last week I wrote that "... the pens are designed to
      detect certain properties in genuine U.S. currency paper,
      but they only work with relatively recent notes."

      Joe Boling writes: "The counterfeit detection pens don't
      look for characteristics of US currency - they look for
      characteristics of paper that is NOT used for US currency.
      Crane's product is sized with animal fat and glycerine.
      Commercial bond paper is sized with starch. The pen is
      an iodine solution. Iodine and starch combine as black.
      If the pen detects starch on the note, it will react.
      Older notes have been in circulation a long time - they
      have had many opportunities to get contaminated with
      something that will react to the pen.

      "The date 1959 is not significant. I have a stack of
      well-circulated notes that I loan to theater companies
      as props for live performances. I just marked two 1928A
      $1 silver certificates and a 1928F $5 US note - they did
      not react. A 1928 $5 US note reacted mildly. A 1934A $10
      Federal Reserve Note did not react; neither did a 1934A
      $20 FRN or a 1934 $50 FRN. Nor did five different well-
      circulated 1923 $1 silver certificates.

      "I have found that after a few weeks, the yellow marking
      of the pen will disappear from a genuine note, so your
      readers who are offended by the markings just need to put
      the notes away for a while."

      [So that explains why you don't see far more bills in
      circulation showing marks from the counterfeit-detecting
      pens. -Editor]

      Joe adds: "Three days after having marked the notes
      previously listed, the marks are invisible on most and
      barely visible on the others, except under ultraviolet
      light - under UV they are still prominent."

      OLD PAPER MONEY AND COUNTERFEIT-DETECTING PENS
      esylum_v10n49a23.html
      Wayne Homren, Editor
    6. Efesgirl Efesgirl, 8 years ago
      http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/15797-5-silver-certificate-and-federal-reserve
    7. Tom619 Tom619, 8 years ago
      Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with me. I think now I will just put the bills in a frame with a satirical cartoon poking fun at the federal reserve. But I do want to make sure they are not counterfeit.
      How can I do that?
      I have used my jewellers loupe to see if any images or lines are blurred, but I'm not an expert.
    8. Yayforkelsey, 8 years ago
      I worked at a bank, and in my experience, it is federal law for a bank employee to confiscate the bills in question and immediately call the Secret Service. The teller is obviously uninformed, otherwise she would have kept those supposed "counterfeit" notes. I would go to another bank or coin shop for a second opinion!
    9. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      It isn't illegal to possess a counterfeit. It is illegal to pass them or show the intent. I had a small collection of them yrs. ago & checked it out.

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