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| Britain |
| More Sour Notes in the Eurozone |
| 2003-12-05 |
| For a while, the euro seemed to have counterfeiters stumped. In the year after the new European currency was officially launched in January, 2002, only 167,000 phony bills were found in circulation -- down dramatically from the 650,000 found in the 12 eurozone countries during 2001. The euro’s state-of-the-art security features, including holograms and color-shifting ink, made forgery more difficult than ever [see BW Online, 12/3/03, "Happy Birthday Dear Euro"]. Alas, the crooks now seem to be catching on. The European Central Bank [ECB] says more than 230,000 fake bills were found in circulation during the first half of 2003 alone. Most experts predict the second-half numbers will be even higher. In fact, some experts fear that faking of the euro will exceed the combined total counterfeiting of the currencies that the euro replaced in a few years. That’s because forgers rarely bothered with relatively weak and thinly circulated European currencies such as the Portuguese escudo and Greek drachma. "The euro represents a greater prize than many of the other former currencies," says Allister McCallum, head of the ECB’s counterfeit analysis center. |
| Posted by:Jarhead |
| #4 I read a comment somewhere that some fake currency, issued by a hostile government, was of such better quality than the national printing, it was actually preferred. LOL! Barney Rubble rulz! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-12-5 6:37:46 PM |
| #3 WTF. After the Berlin wall came down, maybe those |
| Posted by: Glenn (not Reynolds) 2003-12-5 11:56:39 AM |
| #2 Something I've not seen much comment on, and wonder why: There is ample evidence that some hostile governments are behind significant amounts of currency counterfeiting. Why do stable governments allow these rogue states to get away with this? The old Soviet Union cranked out dollars, marks, pounds, francs, and guilders by the millions. Cuba gleefully destabilizes every currency in the Western Hemisphere. I read a comment somewhere that some fake currency, issued by a hostile government, was of such better quality than the national printing, it was actually preferred. There's plenty of evidence that many other nations, both hostile to the West and supposedly "neutral", are also engaged in such antics. When is such behavior sufficient cause to put an end to it? |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-12-5 11:51:59 AM |
| #1 One of the hazards of being a reserve currency. Welcome to the big time. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-12-5 11:23:50 AM |