Friday, 19 October 2007
>> its the add-a-knowledge time of the week!
ok finally found wat to share with everyone this week. but i got the feeling i need to change it to fortnightly contribution or not a machiam like got stress like that.
ok Topic of the week:
The secret behind the US currency notewatched it from megastructures ytd on the greenback. they were talking about the different security features and on the note and how it was made. here are the main points i took down from the show...the reason why the note feels crisp and much durable compared to normal paper was because its not made of wood pulp, but a mixture of cotton and linen!there are many many procedures just to make this high-tech paper. even though a note looks like just a normal piece of paper physically, it actually contains 3 layers within, which is the reason why its so difficult to counterfeit it.there was a major round of changes in 1996 which included several improvements like:A security thread that will glow red when exposed to
ultraviolet light in a dark environment. The thread is in a unique position on each denomination.
Color-shifting ink that changes from green to black when viewed from different angles. This feature appears in the numeral on the lower right-hand corner of the bill front.
Microprinting in the numeral in the note's lower left-hand corner and on Benjamin Franklin's coat.
Concentric fine-line printing in the background of the portrait and on the back of the note. This type of printing is difficult to copy well.
i also manage to know this from wiki:
The $20 bill is the primary banknote (and in many cases, the
only banknote) dispensed by
automated teller machines in the United States as well as the primary bill used for withdraws or check cashing ($50 bills are seldom given by default); it is, therefore, the highest denomination note commonly used by Americans on a regular, everyday basis.
from feedback collected from the exclusive readers, i have included the URL for u to go if u are really free.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_dollaranother interesting thing featured by the show was on this person called WAYNE VICTOR DENNIS who attempted to print 20 million dollars worth of counterfeit. he painstakingly went to buy special printers, looked for the correct colours and paper of the right weight to start his project. this is wat i got from a website:
>>Dennis drove to a dozen different banks to get as many new $20s as possible. He photographed several hundred of them, experimenting with different exposures and light to get the sharpest detail.
When he got his negatives, Dennis wore magnifying glasses to examine their quality. Andrew Jackson's face had to be clean, the clouds above the White House had to be visible. To repair flaws, he used the X-acto blades to etch lines and filled in uneven lines with a Rapidograph pen. He had to widen each serial number individually and draw the Treasury seal by hand because it would not photograph properly.
To print the bills, Dennis made three plates because various parts of the bill, such as the Treasury seal and serial numbers, had to be printed in special shades of green and black.
Dennis sat hunched over his dining-room table, sometimes 18 hours a day, trying to perfect his negatives. He says that while he worked on the negatives, Joey and Alexia ran errands and bought supplies. Though Joey and Alexia would later deny it, Dennis claims they were aware of the counterfeiting operation and assisted in it.
When Dennis finally produced a set of negatives that satisfied him, he was ready to prepare the printing plates - thin, bright blue aluminum plates that would be imprinted with the image of the bills.
The first plate would reproduce the front of the bill, minus the serial numbers and Treasury seal, which had to be printed in green. The second plate carried the serial numbers and seal. The third would reproduce the back of the bill, which was to be printed in olive green.
Dennis kept meticulous records of his work because, he says, he wanted to show Spiller how the money was being spent and how the project was coming along....
Dennis shopped at various office- and art-supply stores for paper, settling on 20-pound typing paper. He spent days testing the printing equipment, trying to get the right flow of ink and the right tone. When he had problems with the printer, he called local printers with technical questions, being careful not to reveal too much. "I never called the same printer twice," he says....
Dennis purchased a couple of paper shredders at Office Depot and began shredding the bills, flushing them down the toilet. But the shredders would not work fast enough.
Dennis says he gave Joey money to buy a barbecue grill and began burning the money in the back yard, hoping the neighbors wouldn't look over the fence and see them throwing stacks of $20s into the fire.
But the wind kicked up and blew bills around the yard, with Dennis and Joey running frantically around trying to collect them.
Concerned that he might be discovered, Dennis says he called David Spiller, who agreed to let them burn the money in his fireplace at home. But that didn't work too well either. The fire got out of control and nearly burned the living room carpet. Dennis grabbed one of Mrs. Spiller's favorite golf clubs to push the money in and then tried a pool-cleaning pole, which melted.
After much experimentation, Dennis found the best method was to fill a glass lasagne pan halfway with water, add two bottles of spray starch, top off with a teaspoon of coffee and stir. After soaking the bills in this mixture, he ironed them on marble slabs.
For a final touch, he placed the bills in a plastic container, sprinkled on a few dashes of baby powder, put on a lid and shook vigorously.
Dennis recalls that he, Joey and Alexia would close their eyes and finger a genuine $20 bill and one of the fake ones. They couldn't tell the difference.
ON APRIL 20, 1992, DENNIS and Alexia Lopez flew to Las Vegas with $100,000 in fake bills packed into a large suitcase. Dennis had chosen Las Vegas as the place to try out his money because cash was passed around town so quickly, and because many casinos were dimly lit.
When the couple arrived, they rented a car, drove to the Strip and checked into the Excalibur Hotel. They decided to try cashing their first bill at a Wendy's restaurant. They were ecstatic when it worked.
"Alexia and I looked at each other. Right then we knew we were millionaires," Dennis says.
After that, they passed bills at a few casinos and bars and played a few games of blackjack. Sometimes Dennis wore round glasses and a fake mustache. Alexia wore a black wig. In two days, they passed more than $1,000 in fake bills.
On their third day in town, they decided to go to the Circus Circus casino to pass more money, and that's where it all ended...
>>The couple's bills was found to be a fake and subsequently they were caught and sentenced to jail. but as they were cooperative, their sentence was very short only, which i think they are real damn lucky lah~~
11:46:00 am;
