The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 11, March 14, 2004, Article 20

FOLLOW-UP: EXPLODING TWENTIES

  Ronald S. Thompson writes: "The USA Today article on
  counterfeits and the article on exploding twenties may be
  related.  If there really is an RFID tracking device in the new
  twenties it should make them easier to separate from the
  fakes and therefore result in more counterfeits being found.
  However, I microwaved one new twenty for 60 seconds
  without any burning."

  OK, so who else tried microwaving some cash after last
  week's story?  Fess up...

  Joe Boling writes: "Regarding the web article on RFID tracers
  in banknotes, you will note when examining the illustrations with
  the article that they did NOT have the new notes - most of the
  notes are the 1996-2003 series, with only three or four being
  the 2004 series (and one of those did not react). Not wanting to
  find a conspirator in every wallet, I propose that it is the metallic

  components in the ink that are reacting to the microwaves.  It
  has long been known that US notes include magnetic (or
  magnetizable) inks. Based on the pre-1996 $20 I have that
  shows starvation of one of the ink fountains, I don't believe the
  portrait includes the magnetic ink, but it surely comprises the
  most concentrated deposit of black ink on the entire note, and
  if there are metallic ingredients in it, the reaction to microwaves
  could be predicted to match that experienced by "Dave and
  Denise."

  As for the euro notes, I can't find the E50 note that I have lying
  around here someplace, so I can't examine it for an RFID in the
  security thread, but I'd rather expect to find that there is a joint
  in the thread, or some other feature of its visual and electronic
  properties that would react with microwaves, rather than an
  RFID device (which I suspect has not been miniaturized to that
  level yet - for instance, where is the battery?). "

  [Actually, I don't believe RFID tags require a power source
  of their own - they pick up energy from the radio waves
  emitted by the RFID reader. -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum