$6 trillion in counterfeit US bonds seized

myp · Feb 17, 2012

That is not a typo. $6 trillion of counterfeited US bonds were seized by Italian police. Each fake bond had a face value of $1 billion.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...f-fake-u-s-treasury-bonds-in-switzerland.html

Kingdom · Feb 17, 2012

Wow, one major seize. Fantastic and a victory for both Italy and Switzerland.

DodgeFB · Feb 17, 2012

myp said:
That is not a typo. $6 trillion of counterfeited US bonds were seized by Italian police. Each fake bond had a face value of $1 billion.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...f-fake-u-s-treasury-bonds-in-switzerland.html

They were greedy. They should have known anything for that amount would be given a good look over.

Comet · Feb 17, 2012

DodgeFB said:
They were greedy. They should have known anything for that amount would be given a good look over.

So are you saying I should quit making these one million dollar bills with Millard Fillmore on them?

Calvin · Feb 17, 2012

myp said:
That is not a typo. $6 trillion of counterfeited US bonds were seized by Italian police. Each fake bond had a face value of $1 billion.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...f-fake-u-s-treasury-bonds-in-switzerland.html

Canada recently introduced its new $100 bill. If you have ever been to Australia you know what their bills are made out of, that plasticy stuff that doesn't rip and is water proof.

The reason Canada did this was because its bills were the most counterfeited in the Western world. Australia had the lowest counterfeiting rate, so now what Canada does is they buy the material from Australia (the only place you can buy this special polymer) and then they ship it to the mint in Ottawa.

Soon all bills in Canada will be made out of the stuff, but they just rolled out the 100's.

Basically, the political fear was that a high counterfeit rate would completely undermine the Canadian economy. Hitler during WWII tried something similar by counterfeiting UK pounds, very high quality one's, but they never made it into circulation for some reason.

myp · Feb 17, 2012

Calvin said:
Canada recently introduced its new $100 bill. If you have ever been to Australia you know what their bills are made out of, that plasticy stuff that doesn't rip and is water proof.

The reason Canada did this was because its bills were the most counterfeited in the Western world. Australia had the lowest counterfeiting rate, so now what Canada does is they buy the material from Australia (the only place you can buy this special polymer) and then they ship it to the mint in Ottawa.

Soon all bills in Canada will be made out of the stuff, but they just rolled out the 100's.

Basically, the political fear was that a high counterfeit rate would completely undermine the Canadian economy. Hitler during WWII tried something similar by counterfeiting UK pounds, very high quality one's, but they never made it into circulation for some reason.

Yep, I know about that. I read a fantastic article about it a while back, but I can't remember where now (maybe Planet Money?). This is about forging bonds though, not money.

Calvin · Feb 17, 2012

myp said:
Yep, I know about that. I read a fantastic article about it a while back, but I can't remember where now (maybe Planet Money?). This is about forging bonds though, not money.

Yes, good point. I did stray a little in that respect.

Maybe I am a bit dumb in this respect, but my understanding of bonds is like this.

The government or a company says okay, you lend us money for X months or years, we then return the money to you at the end of the term with X percent interest. That is what I understand a bond to be.

Now presumably a government or a company keeps their own records about who the bond holders are? If so, wouldn't it make forged bonds easy to detect as question would arise?

myp · Feb 17, 2012

Calvin said:
Now presumably a government or a company keeps their own records about who the bond holders are? If so, wouldn't it make forged bonds easy to detect as question would arise?

Many bonds are bought and sold on the secondary market (people/firms who already own bonds who are not the Treasury selling them). Most of the primary market activity is primary dealers (mostly large banks) although individuals can still buy direct too if they want to (at least in the US).

DodgeFB · Feb 17, 2012

Comet said:
So are you saying I should quit making these one million dollar bills with Millard Fillmore on them?

Yes. That could get you in trouble. Just make up a few fake gold bars. Bricks spray painted gold might work.

$6 trillion in counterfeit US bonds seized

Similar threads