Counterfeit currency, detection

Microscopy is indispensable in forensic science, where it is used to examine crime scene evidence such as blood, hair, dust, fingerprints, tiny shards of glass, and threads of fiber. Criminologists use high-powered microscopes to help them study the minute hand motions that were used to construct signatures on suspicious documents, looking for frequent stops and starts or other signs of possible foi ery. Counterfeit currency makers are often foiled by microscopes, which help scientists detect very subtle discrepancies in the color and texture of the paper fibers used to manufacture counterfeit bills. 

A near-infrared (NIR) spectrum can reveal information that counterfeiters don t anticipate. As such, it can be used to detect fakes in those materials where the additional spectral information above the visible region differs from that in genuine materials. This chapter addresses efforts to thwart those who would print counterfeit currency or offer colored plastic to tourists seeking to purchase turquoise jewelry. Some of this work was done by the author during his tenure as a staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). 

When a researcher at LANL described his efforts to embed a microdot (containing information confirming its legitimacy) in new currency, two questions arose What about existing currency and Could NIR be a route to the detection of counterfeit currency The technique had already been applied to paper [1-5] and a study by Dale and Klatt [6] had employed principal component analysis (PCA) to currency, albeit only new and aged samples. 

Much more could be (and has been) written on this subject. Suffice it to say here that NIR is a proven route to the detection of counterfeit currency, and because of the relatively and unavoidably small database, work should be ongoing to thwart the efforts of counterfeiters. LANL offered this work as an R D 100 Contest entry in 1996 under the title SuperScan Counterfeit Currency Detector but it was not among the top 100. Moreover, the FBI and SS seemed disinterested, saying there is no problem. However, an invention disclosure was filed and a patent [9] issued. 

Chapters 2 and 3 have been replaced (Basic Principles and Theories of Diffuse Reflection), several chapters (4,19,25,26,29, and 37) have been updated (Commercial Instrumentation, Analyses of Textiles and of Baked Products, Advances in the Petrochemical Industry, Polymers, Pharmaceutical Applications, and Process Analysis), and some new chapters (12,18,21,28,29,31,32,33,35, and 38) have been added (Process Sensors, Agro-Forestry Systems, Gas Analysis, Use of NIR at the Bowling Alley, PAT in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Nutraceuticals, Detection of Counterfeit Drugs (e.g., Viagra), NIR Photography in Medicine, Biomedical Components in Blood and Semm, and The Detection of Counterfeit Currency and Turquoise). 

Paper is made from cellulose, either from cotton fibers or from wood that has been converted to pulp. Because ordinary paper contains a certain concentration of starch, contacting it with a counterfeit-detecting pen will leave a blue-black mark. Since 1959, U.S. paper currency has contained virtually no starch.Therefore contacting it with a special pen leaves only a golden-brown mark. 

Many different approaches exist in the legal printing of currency to permit detection when inept counterfeiters are unaware of their presence [8]. But it is a cat-and-mouse game of production and deception that continues indefinitely as each deterrent is devised, the counterfeiters beat it. The rest of this section confirms what is well known by government officials. Confidentiality precludes the naming of sources of additional counterfeit 100 bills they are identified only as source A and source B. ... 

Discusses non-traditional applications such as analyzing bowling lane conditions and counterfeit detection tor currency, turquoise, and cigars... 

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