How to Identify Foreign Currency

One of the many things a bank teller is expected to know is how to quickly identify money. They are taught to recognize United States dollars, and therefore fake or foreign currency, by studying United States bills carefully. The idea is that if they become familiar enough with our currency, they will immediately be able to identify anything that is foreign whether fabricated or from another country. By taking some simple steps anyone should be able to identify foreign currency if they need to.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• United States Currency Foreign currency List of identifying marks List of current scams

How to Identify Foriegn Currency

1. Familiarize yourself with United States currency by studying and reviewing. You should learn which presidents and other symbolic figures are on the bills and which watermarks to identify. Study the money on the front and back until you are completely familiar with, and can easily identify, any United States coin or bill.

2. Review foreign currency. If you are going to be dealing with foreign currency, whether through traveling, banking or any reason, you will need to know how to identify it. Review the foreign currency in the same way you would review United States bills. If there are certain bills you know you will be working with regularly, spend more time studying and memorizing them. Familiarize yourself with identifying symbols and figures on the bills.

3. Make a list of distinguishing marks of on the foreign currency you will be dealing with to refer to. This will be especially useful if you will be regularly dealing with several foreign currencies. By having a list you can easily validate any given bill. You should also be aware of watermarks on foreign currency.

4. Have samples of foreign bills you can refer to. Having samples of foreign currency that you seldom come across will help you easily identify it by comparing it with the bills you currently have.

5. Be aware of current common forgeries of both both United States and foreign currency. Keep an eye out for forged currency. For instance, you may have to look out for a difference in paper weight or a misspelling of a word or misplacement of a symbol. Knowing common tricks will help you more easily spot them.