The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 12, March 21, 2004, Article 18

SCIENTIFIC METHOD TRIUMPHS OVER RUMOR: TWENTIES PUT TO THE MICROWAVE TEST

  Chick Ambrass writes: "After reading the recent E-Sylum
  item, I was talking with my son about the so-called tracking
  devices in $20 bills.  The first note I put in the microwave was
  a 2000-series note;  it "popped" almost immediately, and
  popped again 10-15 seconds later.  After careful examination,
  there was no hole in either of the eyes of Jackson.  I then tried
  two 2004-series notes and not one single pop, no holes in
  Jackson's eyes. Nothing happened folks."

  Bob Shippee writes: "I tried it with a new $20 and with a UK
  5 Pound note.  Nothing happened after 60 seconds, except I
  got a very strange look from my wife..."

  From Line56, a site for business-to-business commerce,
  comes this confirmation that the whole thing about RFID
  tags in U.S. money is a hoax:

  "Along with some reasonable privacy questions being raised
  around RFID are new urban legends that suggest vast
  conspiracies are afoot to misuse personal information. The
  latest apparently is a myth that RFID chips have been
  embedded in $20 bills behind Andrew Jackson's right eye.
  The story goes that if one places a $20 bill in a microwave
  oven, the tag in the bill will explode and burn the money.

  The rumor was enough for global trading association AIM
  to issue a release debunking the myth, especially after noting
  that some people had begun wrapping their money in
  aluminum foil to thwart the conspiracy. "

  For the doubtful, AIM repeated the experiment by warming
  a new $20 bill in a microwave set to "high" for one minute
  with no deleterious effect.  The group went an extra step by
  placing a RFID tag of the type used by commercial laundries
  near Andrew Jackson's image on the bill.  The chip did indeed
  begin to spark and burned the bill but revealed no hidden
  tracking mechanism in the currency. AIM says casual
  examination under light would reveal the presence of any
  embedded chip and antenna."  Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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