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Show Combating Counterfeiting: The Treasury's Perpetual Partnership with the Public Anissa Beecroft Printing added a "clear, inscribed polyester thread" that contained an identifier for each denomination. On Series 1990 $50 and $100 Federal Reserve Notes, the first to be distributed, the thread had "USA" plus the numerical value, such as "USA 50 USA 50" repeated along the entire length of the thread. On lower denominations the security thread had "USA" plus the written denomination, such as "USA TWENTY USA TWENTY" written along the strip. The new bill also included a line of microprinting around the rim of the portrait on $50 and $100 denominations. The micro-printing repeated the words "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" (Treasury 1995). The two new security features increased the Treasury's technological advantage, but decreased the advantage it held with the public. The thread and printing could only be seen by holding the note up to a light. Additionally, the common citizen could read the microprinting only with a magnifying glass. The public found the bills more difficult to reproduce, but also impossible to fully recognize with the naked eye. A first-hand experiment conducted by Mike Sampson at the Secret Service headquarters to determine the recognizability of the 1990 series, confirmed what many money handlers had witnessed already. An authentic $20 bill was placed under glass among several good counterfeits of the bill previously apprehended by the Secret Service. Based on at-a-glance observation alone, an unaided American citizen could not identify the real bill. Even though she was able to look at the samples for any length of time, the security features were largely undetectable (Treasury 1995). Observers concluded that the designs would be useless in the average marketplace where neither customer nor merchant could devote a lot of time to inspect every bill during every transaction. The BEP possessed the time and technology to implement new security features, but the general public did not have the same resources to fully utilize them (Treasury 1995). The Secret Service tried to remedy the imbalance between government and citizen through the Know Your Money program. New pamphlets described the new security thread and microprinting features in great detail so the public would know what to look for. Unfortunately, the brochure could only tell citizens that they would not be able to see these features without the help of magnification. Nevertheless it instructed the people, "Look at the money you receive. Compare a suspect note with a genuine note of the same denomination and series, paying attention to the quality of printing and paper characteristics. Look for differences, not similarities" (Treasury 1995, 4). In addition to these guidelines, the 1991 edition of the Treasury's Know Your Money booklet attempted to make the public feel more qualified to fight counterfeiters, despite the new and obscure features, by listing several steps for persons to follow if they should encounter a counterfeit. The guidelines included: 1. Do not return the counterfeit bill to the passer. 2. Delay the passer if possible. 3. Observe the passer's description, as well as that of any companions, and the license numbers of any vehicles used. 4. Telephone your local police Department or the United States Secret Service. These numbers can be found on the inside front page of a local telephone directory. 5. Write your initials and the date on a blank portion of the suspect note. 6. Do not handle the note. Carefully place it in a protective covering, such as an envelope. 7. Surrender the note only to a properly identified police officer or U. S. Secret Service agent (1991b). While the Treasury told citizens how to recognize a counterfeit and what to do if they saw one, the Department did not provide citizens with the means to follow its directions. As the early Colonies learned two centuries ago, the general public could not act as an effective police force without the proper knowledge, devotion, and equipment. A busy merchant could not take the time to inspect every bill in every transaction. He or she did not possess the trained skills to detain the passer, take note of the passer and his license plate, call the police, label the note, protect the note, and then wait for a "properly identified" official to arrive. When the detection and prosecution of counterfeit bills interfered too much with the average citizen's work, he or she usually disregarded the civic duty as too much work and left protection up to the government (Treasury 1991a). Once the Treasury Department began to lose the public as its ally, it also began to lose the war against counterfeiting. If common citizens could not identify the government's strategies, they could not identify with the government's cause. Loss of the people's loyalty resulted in more citizens focusing on their personal interests rather than the nation's concerns. Various members of the public took on their most recent status as the Treasury's greatest enemy with the greater quality, affordability, and availability of highly technical reprographic equipment (Treasury 1991a). Technology is not confined to large printing, graphic design, or advertising firms. Through copy centers and corporate offices, many American citizens have access to digital scanners, color ink jet copiers and printers, and personal computers with graphics software. High quality counterfeits can be produced as the copiers interface with personal computers. The scanner portion of the copier can be used to scan an image into the computer. The image then can be edited to enhance image quality and fine details that an advanced printer can reproduce. As highly sophisticated and technologically advanced reprographic systems become more available to the public, they also become more accepted by the public. The machines have proven easy to acquire and easy to use (Treasury 1991a). Because counterfeiting has become a crime based more on opportunity than skill, members of the public can take advantage of it as a seemingly feasible and reasonable alternative to earning real money. However, this alluring alternative 16 |