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When is a £20 note not worth £20? When it's a forgery! |
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Ever since money was first invented, criminals have tried to copy it. But the Bank of England has always tried to come up with ways to stop forgery. |
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This note dates from two hundred years ago. You can see that it has a very simple design. |
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Nowadays, the design is much more complicated, making it much more difficult to copy. |
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There are lots of low-tech ways with which you can tell a real note from a fake one. Firstly, the feel of the paper... |
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...the metal thread which runs through the paper... |
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...the watermark... |
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...and the raised printing on the surface of the note. |
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But the Bank of England now uses a more and more high tech methods to prevent notes from being copied. For the first time in this country, our banknotes now bear a hologram - a picture that's painted on by laser. |
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The picture changes according to the position of light, making it almost impossible to copy. |
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As well as the hologram, there are other security features. Fluorescent ink - which can be seen under ultra-violet lighting - is used, as you can see here. |
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And see this wavy design on this £10? Looks nice, doesn't it? It's actually wording. |
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Under the microscope you can see the type clearly. So - if this type isn't present on a note, it's not real! |
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The police estimate that less than 1% of all banknotes in the UK are forged, thanks to all the high-tech anti-forgery devices in use on notes today. Which is a good thing, because a forged note isn't worth the paper it's written on! |
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