NCJ Number
66353
Date Published
1974
Length
65 pages
Annotation
A REPORT OF THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT TO THE 43RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF INTERPOL PRESENTS INFORMATION RECEIVED ON CURRENCY COUNTERFEITING DURING 1973.
Abstract
THE NUMBER OF CASES ROSE CONSIDERABLY FROM 1972. FORGERIES, (I.E., AUTHENTIC BILLS WITH NUMBER CHANGES), WERE USUALLY U.S. DOLLARS. PUBLICITY-TYPE BILLS WERE CIRCULATED IN A NUMBER OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. THE NUMBER OF COUNTRIES WHOSE CURRENCY WAS IMITATED REMAINED AT 28, SIMILAR TO PREVIOUS YEARS, ALTHOUGH THE U.S. DOLLAR IS STILL THE MOST COUNTERFEITED CURRENCY. SLIGHTLY LESS MONEY IN COUNTERFEIT NOTES WAS SEIZED THAN IN 1972 AND LESS OF IT HAD BEEN PLACED IN CIRCULATION ABROAD. THE NUMBER OF NEW TYPES OF U.S. NOTES COUNTERFEITED ROSE TO 333 (A 10 PERCENT INCREASE OVER PREVIOUS YEARS), WHILE NEW TYPES FOR OTHER COUNTRIES DROPPED SLIGHTLY. A TENDENCY TOWARD REDUCED CIRCULATION OF LOW-DENOMINATION COUNTERFEIT BILLS AND INCREASED CIRCULATION OF HIGH-DENOMINATION BILLS WAS OBSERVED FOR U.S. DOLLARS. THE MOST IMPORTANT CONFISCATIONS OF COUNTERFEIT BILLS OCCURRED IN WEST GERMANY, BELGIUM, DENMARK, SPAIN, MOROCCO, THE NETHERLANDS, PORTUGAL, AND SWITZERLAND. CLANDESTINE PRINTSHOPS, WHOSE PRINTING METHODS AND RESULTS ARE LISTED, WERE DISCOVERED IN WEST GERMANY, NUMEROUS LOCATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, BELGIUM, INDIA, ITALY, LEBANON, MOROCCO, THE NETHERLANDS, THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM. THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT LABORATORY DETECTED NO SIGNIFICANT NEW METHODS; OFFSET PRINTING WAS MOST COMMON, BUT IN ONE CASE OFFSET METHODS WITH A HALF-TONE SCREEN PRODUCED VERY GOOD RESULTS. COUNTERFEIT METAL CURRENCY OF 16 COUNTRIES WAS DISCOVERED IN 9 COUNTRIES. COUNTERFEIT COINS WERE CIRCULATED IN SIX COUNTRIES; SIGNIFICANT SEIZURES OCCURRED IN AUSTRIA, FRANCE, AND LEBANON, WITH ONE WORKSHOP DISCOVERY IN ITALY. THE NUMBER OF COUNTERFEIT CHECK CASES ROSE BY 10 PERCENT OVER 1972; CASES WERE ESPECIALLY PREVALENT IN EUROPE, BUT ALSO OCCURRED IN AFRICA, NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, AND THE FAR EAST. TABLES LIST NOTES SEIZED, NEW TYPES OF COUNTERFEIT NOTES, COUNTERFEIT NOTES IN CIRCULATION, COUNTERFEIT COINS SEIZED, NEW TYPES OF COUNTERFEIT COINS, AND COUNTERFEIT COINS IN CIRCULATION.