You just kind of assume that when the bank ATM or teller gives you cash, it's official legal tender.

Except when we went to spend it, it obviously wasn't, and it was bad enough for a cashier to notice instantly. In fact, if we'd bothered to look at it more closely when we got it from the bank, we would have been able to notice. There's no security strip. It has a rough cut. And the printing itself is not sharp or clear. Looks like someone did it at home and just weathered the paper enough to look like it.

I would have thought a bank would have caught this, but apparently not.

For those who live in the Akron area, if you ever head to the PNC branch in Cuyahoga Falls on State Road, check your bills before you leave.

Have you contacted PNC about it?

ernest_t_bass;1861981 wrote:Have you contacted PNC about it?

I'll be calling them shortly. I was told by a former PNC branch manager that I'll get less pushback if I call corporate as opposed to calling the branch itself, so that's what I'm going to do.

I mean, it's $10, so it's not like I'm out a ton, but it was pretty embarrassing to have it turned down in a store with a line behind us, and money's money, so I'm really hoping they make us whole.

O-Trap;1861984 wrote:I'll be calling them shortly. I was told by a former PNC branch manager that I'll get less pushback if I call corporate as opposed to calling the branch itself, so that's what I'm going to do.

I mean, it's $10, so it's not like I'm out a ton, but it was pretty embarrassing to have it turned down in a store with a line behind us, and money's money, so I'm really hoping they make us whole.

How would they make you whole with no proof?

O-Trap;1861984 wrote: I mean, it's $10, so it's not like I'm out a ton, but it was pretty embarrassing to have it turned down in a store with a line behind us, and money's money, so I'm really hoping they make us whole.

I'd count myself lucky that it was not reported to the Secret Service. It's a small amount, but I think that's how a lot of counterfeiters (if that's still a thing) test their product.

But what a mystery! Obviously someone somewhere in the chain swapped or added the phoney bill, and that is hard to imagine. Also surprised the ATM would not have caught it, but that particular feature must only work one-way with deposits only.

ernest_t_bass;1862011 wrote:How would they make you whole with no proof?

There's no proof that that's the bill we got from the machine, but there are cameras and a transaction history that accounts for the rest of the story.

I'm told there is actual protocol in place for this, as well, since It's apparently happened before.

gut;1862014 wrote:I'd count myself lucky that it was not reported to the Secret Service. It's a small amount, but I think that's how a lot of counterfeiters (if that's still a thing) test their product.

But what a mystery! Obviously someone somewhere in the chain swapped or added the phoney bill, and that is hard to imagine. Also surprised the ATM would not have caught it, but that particular feature must only work one-way with deposits only.

Sure. I doubt the cashier at the grocery store is going to make a big deal about confiscating it. She just said she couldn't accept it. I know that it goes to the SS once we turn it in. I'm going to ask the bank for assurance that we will be made whole prior to bringing it in.

I do agree with your surprise that the bank didn't catch it. Particularly if it was ever placed in a counting machine. It's not a very good fake.

http://www.10tv.com/article/police-fake-money-being-passed-around-washington-court-house

O-Trap;1862018 wrote:Particularly if it was ever placed in a counting machine. It's not a very good fake.

Yeah, banks transact with ATM cash services. I'm not sure of the process, but you would think each ATM deposit is counted out so the bank and service know what the value was. Otherwise, how would you police partial fills without counting what's left in the truck when it returns?

Then the ATM must count what is dispensed so the bank can verify it received the correct amount...but it must be the case it only counts how many pieces of paper it dispenses from the different stacks and doesn't actually validate it is currency.

gut;1862024 wrote:Yeah, banks transact with ATM cash services. I'm not sure of the process, but you would think each ATM deposit is counted out so the bank and service know what the value was. Otherwise, how would you police partial fills without counting what's left in the truck when it returns?

Then the ATM must count what is dispensed so the bank can verify it received the correct amount...but it must be the case it only counts how many pieces of paper it dispenses from the different stacks and doesn't actually validate it is currency.

I actually just noticed that the ink bled when it got wet, and I saw something faded underneath. It reads "ONE." LOL

Apparently, whoever made this took a $1 bill, faded the hell out of it, and printed the $10 markings over top of it. Explains why it feels like it's the right material. I guess the edge that looks like a rough cut was just a flaw in the real bill.

O-Trap;1862031 wrote:I actually just noticed that the ink bled when it got wet, and I saw something faded underneath. It reads "ONE." LOL

Apparently, whoever made this took a $1 bill, faded the hell out of it, and printed the $10 markings over top of it. Explains why it feels like it's the right material. I guess the edge that looks like a rough cut was just a flaw in the real bill.

Killing Floor-the first Jack Reacher novel, they did just that...washed old $1 bills clean and reprinted I think it was $20 bills on top (that is going off memory, it was the first Jack Reacher novel so it has been awhile since I read it).

jmog;1862112 wrote:Killing Floor-the first Jack Reacher novel, they did just that...washed old $1 bills clean and reprinted I think it was $20 bills on top (that is going off memory, it was the first Jack Reacher novel so it has been awhile since I read it).

See, I don't get why they wouldn't do $5 bills to $50 bills. It's the same proportion, and $5 bills still have a strip. It's not in the same place, and the strip itself says something else on it, but at least there would be one.

The printer they used was pretty crappy, though, and the ink didn't stay on the paper. I think that was ultimately what gave it away so quickly.

O-Trap;1862160 wrote:See, I don't get why they wouldn't do $5 bills to $50 bills. It's the same proportion, and $5 bills still have a strip. It's not in the same place, and the strip itself says something else on it, but at least there would be one.

The printer they used was pretty crappy, though, and the ink didn't stay on the paper. I think that was ultimately what gave it away so quickly.

Going back years, so going off memory, but in the book I remember a shootout in a warehouse on top of just Uncle Scrooge level piles of $1 bills that all were somewhere in the process of being washed and reprinted.

jmog;1862166 wrote:Going back years, so going off memory, but in the book I remember a shootout in a warehouse on top of just Uncle Scrooge level piles of $1 bills that all were somewhere in the process of being washed and reprinted.

If they make any more Jack Reacher movies, they should include that in a scene. That kinda sounds awesome.

O-Trap;1862160 wrote:See, I don't get why they wouldn't do $5 bills to $50 bills. It's the same proportion, and $5 bills still have a strip. It's not in the same place, and the strip itself says something else on it, but at least there would be one.

I would guess that 50's are less common and would be more scrutinized. The Jack Reacher book was pretty solid. Can't take Tom Cruise seriously in the movie since he is supposed to be like 6'4"

iclfan2;1862195 wrote:I would guess that 50's are less common and would be more scrutinized. The Jack Reacher book was pretty solid. Can't take Tom Cruise seriously in the movie since he is supposed to be like 6'4"

I agree, I doubt there will be anymore movies. The first one wasn't terrible, the second one was.

Something about the fact that for some reason in the 2nd one they forgot all the characteristics and "stealth" of Reacher when it comes to blending in a crowd. They had them running all over the place in the 2nd movie rather than blending in like in the book(s).

iclfan2;1862195 wrote:I would guess that 50's are less common and would be more scrutinized. The Jack Reacher book was pretty solid. Can't take Tom Cruise seriously in the movie since he is supposed to be like 6'4"

Sure. That makes sense, of course, but using $5 bills also makes up for it by at least having some of those security measures in place, so that anyone who uses the standard two means of identifying real bills (looking for the strip and using the pen) would probably still be fooled.

As for Tom Cruise, it seems funny to me. Other short leading men were usually able to have the appearance of their height improved with camera angles and such. But I've never seen a Tom Cruise film where he looked even average height.