Counterfeiting Money

"In this age of high-tech computers, digital scanners and commercial-quality film processors, Colombia's counterfeiters still use old-fashioned mechanical methods to churn out their notes. Both Fabio and his drug-trafficking colleague say they know of no one producing counterfeit money in Colombia with technology more modern than offset machines. The process is this: a counterfeiter first creates actual-size photographic negatives of a note's front and back, then cleans up each negative with a jeweler's precision. The images on the negatives are burned onto a series of photosensitized aluminum plates, with each plate showing different details from the bill. Then the plates are run through the offset printing press, so that one set of details is layered on top of another. No matter how high-quality the paper is, the finished product will amount to nothing if the photographic negative is shoddy.

Smaller operations generally contract out the making of the negatives and plates. Today, Fabio says, a contracted set of negatives can cost anywhere from $750 to $2,000, depending on quality and quantity, and the plates cost another $500 to $1,500. Only the larger operations that control production as well as distribution have the money for the equipment to make negatives. The better the equipment, of course, the better the result. " - The New York Times

Genuine currency is made by a process called "gravure", which involves etching a metal block. Since etching a metal block is impossible to do by hand, photo offset printing comes into the process.

Photo offset printing starts by making negatives of the currency with a camera, and putting the negatives on a piece of masking material (usually orange in color). The stripped negatives, commonly called "flats", are then exposed to a lithographic plate with an arc light plate maker. The burned plates are then developed with the proper developing chemical. One at a time, these plates are wrapped around the plate cylinder of the press.

The press to use should be an 11 by 14 offset, such as the AB Dick 360. Make 2 negatives of the portrait side of the bill, and 1 of the back side. After developing them and letting them dry, take them to a light table. Using opaque on one of the portrait sides, touch out all the green, which is the seal and the serial numbers. The back side does not require any retouching, because it is all one color. Now, make sure all of the negatives are registered (lined up correctly) on the flats. By the way, every time you need another serial number, shoot 1 negative of the portrait side, cut out the serial number, and remove the old serial number from the flat replacing it with the new one.

Now you have all 3 flats, and each represents a different color: black, and 2 shades of green (the two shades of green are created by mixing inks). Now you are ready to burn the plates. Take a lithographic plate and etch three marks on it. These marks must be 2 and 9/16 inches apart, starting on one of the short edges. Do the same thing to 2 more plates. Then, take 1 of the flats and place it on the plate, exactly lining the short edge up with the edge of the plate. Burn it, move it up to the next mark, and cover up the exposed area you have already burned. Burn that, and do the same thing 2 more times, moving the flat up one more mark. Do the same process with the other 2 flats (each on a separate plate). Develop all three plates. You should now have 4 images on each plate with an equal space between each bill.

The paper you will need will not match exactly, but it will do for most situations. The paper to use should have a 25% rag content. By the way, Disaperf computer paper (invisible perforation) does the job well. Take the paper and load it into the press. Be sure to set the air, buckle, and paper thickness right. Start with the black plate (the plate without the serial numbers). Wrap it around the cylinder and load black ink in. Make sure you run more than you need because there will be a lot of rejects. Then, while that is printing, mix the inks for the serial numbers and the back side. You will need to add some white and maybe yellow to the serial number ink. You also need to add black to the back side. Experiment until you get it right. Now, clean the press and print the other side. You will now have a bill with no green seal or serial numbers. Print a few with one serial number, make another and repeat. Keep doing this until you have as many different numbers as you want. Then cut the bills to the exact size with a paper cutter. You should have printed a large amount of money by now, but there is still one problem; the paper is pure white. To dye it, mix the following in a pan: 2 cups of hot water, 4 tea bags, and about 16 to 20 drops of green food coloring (experiment with this). Dip one of the bills in and compare it to a genuine US bill. Make the necessary adjustments, and dye all the bills. Also, it is a good idea to make them look used. For example, wrinkle them, rub coffee grinds on them, etc.

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Originally, the only method of counterfeiting paper money was by engraving. Most counterfeits, today, are made by photomechanical methods. Unskilled persons with criminal intent can make good counterfeit notes on a large scale. All that is needed is a book on the photomechanical printing processes and some low cost equipment and supplies.

Offset lithography is the simplest and most common method of making counterfeit notes. About 1950, presensitized aluminum plates for offset printing were introduced. These plates, used on a small, high speed, offset press, allow fast production and long runs. Development of a photographic image of a note on the plate is done by ready-to-use methods. Instructions are printed on the containers. A beginner, following instructions, can make a plate of this type. The presensitized aluminum plate is exposed under a photographic negative of the note. Chemicals on the pretreated plate react and an image of the note appears on the plate. To print, the plate is moistened with water, which repels the ink from the nonprinting surface. The image is then inked and transferred to a rubber blanket roller which puts it on the paper.

Good counterfeit notes can also be made by straight photographic processes. Some counterfeiters, using very thin photographic paper, make separate prints of the front and back of the note they are copying. Then they glue the prints together to complete the note. Others use photographic paper that is sensitized on both sides. With this paper they get prints on both sides of the note and on the same sheet. Colors in the seal, numbers, and back of the note are often applied by hand, using photographic toners or photo coloring tints. Color photographic processes can be used, but they are not too practical. They have a high cost, a slow rate of production, and a surface gloss. Counterfeit notes also may be made using the Xerox process on a high quality paper. Bills made this way are often passed in change-making machines, which use a scan process to check the validity of a bill.

Other counterfeiters use genuine notes, which they alter to raise the notes' value. "Raising" a $1 bill to a $10 bill is common. One way to alter a note is by pen and ink. The denomination markings or other note features are removed with abrasives. The changed design is drawn in and blended with the true features.

Another way is by the paster method. The counterfeiter tears one or two corners from notes of the same denomination. When he has four corners, he thins the corners on a good note of a smaller denomination. Then he pastes on the "new" comers, using pen and ink to blend them in.

Sometimes the pieced method is used. Different sections are torn from several notes of the same type and denomination. The torn pieces are put together to make another note. And if no more than two-fifths is torn from a real note, the note can still be redeemed for full value. Some counterfeiters split the paper of notes of several different denominations. They paste the front of the higher bill to the back of the lower bill and vice versa for the other two sections. They try to pass both notes with the higher value showing. Sometimes a counterfeited front or back is pasted on a split note. And sometimes counterfeiters bleach real notes. This removes the ink, leaving a blank piece of real currency paper. Sometimes only the denomination markings and portrait are bleached out. Using a counterfeit plate, they print notes of a higher denomination on the paper. The advantages of real paper make this method popular. -- U.S. Army Field Manual No.19-20, Law Enforcement Investigations