COUNTERFEIT BAHAMAS BANKNOTES

Published: Monday August 12th, 2002

The Central Bank of The Bahamas has observed that new counterfeit versions of the B$100 and $50 banknotes are in circulation. The serial numbers of the detected counterfeit banknotes are:

B$100 F199578 and H130631 B$50 G210420

Please note, however, that variations of these numbers are also possible and that entirely different serial numbers may exist.

It appears that lower denomination banknotes such as B$1, B$10, etc. have been overprinted with the designs of higher denominations such as B$50 and B$100. This resulted in the following genuine security features being present in the observed counterfeit banknotes:

A genuine watermark, and

A genuine windowed security thread (weaving in and out of the paper) or

A genuine embedded security thread (fully embedded in the paper).

The printings on the detected counterfeit banknotes are, however, of poor quality, as the decorative images are blurry and the raised feeling usually found on the printing of genuine banknotes is missing. Also missing from the dtetected counterfeit banknotes are:

The phosphorescent denomination numerals 100 and 50, which usually flouresce yellow when viewed under balck flourescent light; and

The latent image feature located in the scroll work immediately to the left of the portrait, which causes the numerals 100 and 50 to appear and disappear when the note is tilted back and forth at eye level.

The public is hereby advised to exercise extreme caution when accepting all Bahamas banknotes, as we have noted that counterfeit B$5, B$10 and B$20 banknotes bearing various serial numbers are also observed.

Should counterfeit banknotes be detected, please contact the Commercial Crime Section of the Criminal Investigation Department, Royal Bahamas Police Force.