What good are advanced anti-counterfeiting measures when a counterfeiter can simply make bills like the previous ones? Older notes aren’t removed from circulation.
—A.D., Monessen, Pa.
Counterfeiters do just that, all right. But as the years go by, their success in passing the notes decreases. Merchants are well aware of counterfeiting (banks seize counterfeit bills they detect in deposits), and they know to be suspicious of older designs because legitimate bills are less likely to remain in circulation over time. Notes that are no longer in good condition are destroyed, and a $10 bill, for example, has a life span of less than five years.
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