A Banknote Reveals More When You Tilt It

A U.S. banknote contains features designed to be examined with ordinary movements and light. Tilting the note can reveal changing colors and moving images that are difficult to reproduce accurately.

No single test should decide whether money is genuine. The U.S. Currency Education Program recommends a layered approach: feel the paper, tilt the note, and check it with light.

Color-Shifting Ink Responds To Movement:

Color-shifting ink contains tiny elements that reflect light differently as the viewing angle changes. On current-design $10, $20, $50, and $100 notes, the numeral in the lower-right corner shifts from copper to green when tilted.

Move the note slowly under steady light while watching the numeral. A printed copy may imitate its color, but ordinary ink cannot easily create the same clear change as the note moves.

The Hundred Has Extra Motion:

The current-design $100 note includes a color-shifting bell inside a copper-colored inkwell. As the note tilts, the bell changes from copper to green and may appear to disappear within the inkwell.

Its blue 3-D Security Ribbon contains bells and 100s that appear to move. Tilting the note back and forth makes them travel from side to side, while tilting it sideways makes them move up and down. The ribbon is woven into the paper instead of printed on its surface.

Touch And Light Provide More Clues:

Genuine U.S. currency has a distinctive texture made partly by raised printing. Run a finger across the note and notice whether the surface feels slightly rough. An unusually smooth, soft, or stiff note deserves closer inspection.

Next, hold the bill to a light. Current-design notes above $2 include an embedded security thread, and denominations of $5 or more have a watermark. The location and design depend on the denomination, so compare what you see with official guidance for that particular note.

Detection Pens Have Limits:

A counterfeit-detection pen checks whether paper contains certain starches commonly found in ordinary wood-based paper. It does not examine watermarks, security threads, raised printing, or color-shifting features.

A counterfeit made with treated paper or altered genuine currency may produce a misleading result. Federal Reserve guidance warns that these pens are not always accurate and recommends relying on the note’s security features instead.

Comparison Makes Inspection Easier:

If a bill seems unusual, compare it with a known genuine note of the same denomination and design series. Look at several features rather than judging its color alone, since wear, dirt, lighting, and older designs can change its appearance.

Avoid accepting a questionable note simply because one feature looks correct. Different denominations and design series do not all contain the same technology, so use the official guide that matches the bill being examined.

Let Several Features Tell The Story:

A quick inspection does not require special equipment. Feeling the texture, tilting the note, and checking it against light can reveal several independent signs in less than a minute.

Color-changing ink is especially useful because movement makes the feature visible. Combined with raised printing, a watermark, and a security thread, it becomes part of a layered design that helps ordinary people judge a banknote with greater confidence.