Pretty Fakes

I Learned to Spot Fake $20 Bills the Hard Way

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I run a tiny coffee cart. Early mornings. Lots of cash. One fall Saturday, a $20 felt “off.” Not wrong. Just off. My gut kind of buzzed. You know what? That little feeling saved me. I later wrote the blow-by-blow account of that morning in a longer post I Learned to Spot Fake $20 Bills the Hard Way for anyone who wants every gritty detail.

Here’s what I do now, every single time. And yeah, I’ve caught fakes. More than once.

The “3-Second” Check I Use First

I start simple. No tools. Just eyes and fingers.

  • Look: Andrew Jackson should look sharp, not fuzzy. The borders should have clean lines.
  • Feel: Real bills feel a bit rough from raised ink. Run your finger over “United States of America.” It should bite a little.
  • Tilt: The big 20 in the lower right (front) should shift color. Copper to green. If it stays one color, I slow down.

It sounds fussy. It’s not. It’s a habit now. Like checking a seat belt click.

Light Trick: Watermark and Thread

Next, I hold the $20 up to light.

  • Watermark: You should see a faint face of Jackson on the right side of the front. It should match the big face. Not a blob. Not off-center. A real face.
  • Security thread: Look to the left of Jackson. There’s a thin strip inside the paper. It says “USA TWENTY” and has little flags. Under a UV light, that strip glows green.

No UV? Still fine. You can still see the strip when you hold it to light. It’s inside the paper, not printed on top.

Pen Test: Helpful, But Not Magic

I use a DriMark pen. It’s fast (I tested a handful and shared the results in I Tried a Counterfeit Bill Pen—Here’s What Happened). If it turns dark, the paper is bad. That helps. But here’s the catch: smart fakes can pass the pen. People bleach lower bills and print on them. Sounds wild, right? But it happens.

So I use the pen, but I don’t trust it alone. Light and feel beat the pen.

Real Moments That Taught Me

  • The farmers’ market fake: A man handed me a crisp $20 for two lattes. The pen said “good.” But the watermark face was missing. Just blank paper. My stomach sank. I handed it back and said I couldn’t take it. He didn’t argue. He knew.

  • The gas station shift: I helped a friend one busy night. A $20 looked fine, but the color-shift “20” stayed copper no matter how I tilted it. Under a cheap keychain UV light, the strip glowed blue. Blue is for $5s, not $20s. It was a bleached note. Wild, huh?

  • The “too smooth” bill: This one felt like copy paper. Flat ink. No raised print. The tiny words near Jackson were mushy. On a real bill, those tiny letters are crisp. I kept a real $20 next to it and the difference was huge.

Tiny Details That Make a Big Difference

  • Texture: Real bills have little red and blue fibers in the paper. Not painted on. In the paper.
  • Micro words: Near the portrait and around the borders, there are teeny words like “USA20.” With a pocket loupe, you can read them. On fakes, they smear.
  • Colors: Modern $20s have soft peach and green background shades. If the colors look flat or too bright, I pause.
  • Serial numbers: They should be even, same shade of green as the Treasury seal, and spaced right. No jumpy numbers.

Tools I Actually Keep at the Cart

  • DriMark pen (fast check)
  • Little UV keychain light (the strip on a real $20 glows green)
  • Carson pocket loupe (to read tiny print)
  • One “known good” $20 in the drawer (I compare when I’m unsure)

Keeping my costs lean matters, too. If my cart’s schedule takes me through Douglasville, I scout local classifieds first—OneNightAffair’s Douglasville listings give a quick, scrollable look at who’s gathering where so I can decide if it’s worth firing up the espresso machine. Speaking of budget-friendly gear, you can browse a no-nonsense list of free or low-cost resources for small operators over at Fuck Free—it’s a handy hub that points you to tools and tips that won’t eat into your profit margin.

For a quick refresher on what each security feature should look like, I often pull up the visual guide at PrettyFakes on my phone whenever I’m training a new helper. If you want a rock-solid official cheat sheet, the U.S. Currency Education Program’s free Teller Toolkit walks you through every feature step by step. I’ve also experimented with higher-tech options like NFC tags—check out the firsthand pros and cons in I Tried NFC Anti-Counterfeiting So You Don’t Get Burned.

None of this is fancy. It’s cheap, and it works. For an even faster reference, I printed the Secret Service’s Quick Glance Guide and taped it right next to the register.

My Quick Routine, Start to Finish

  1. Feel the paper and raised ink.
  2. Tilt for the color-shift “20.”
  3. Hold to light for the Jackson watermark and the strip.
  4. If I’m still unsure, UV check the strip for green glow.
  5. Compare to a bill I trust.

It takes under 10 seconds. Slower if I chat. I talk a lot.

What I Do If I Get a Fake

  • I don’t hand it back out. That’s important.
  • I keep the bill, note the time and the person if I can, and call the local police non-emergency line or my bank. They know what to do.
  • I write a quick note for my records. Date, how it came in, any camera clip time.

Passing a bad note can land someone behind bars—see just how ugly it can get in I Got Burned by Counterfeit Cash—Here’s What Jail Time Looked Like Up Close.

It’s not fun. But it’s the right thing.

Little Things I Wish I Knew Earlier

  • Dark shops make bad checks. Stand near a window when you can.
  • Busy rush means fast mistakes. I tape a tiny “Check the 20” note by the till. Silly, but it helps.
  • Trust your gut. When a bill feels wrong, it’s often wrong.

Final Take

I’ve used every trick above, in real life, with real cash and real stress. The pen helps. The UV helps more. But your eyes and your fingers? Those help most.

Look. Feel. Light. Tilt. Then breathe. You’ve got this.

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