A tip to all would-be criminals: If you ever get caught and charged but the charges get dropped because of improper evidence collection, that's a sign from fate itself that it's time to hang up your hat and retire from crime. This guy continuing to counterfeit after getting away with it the first time is like winning millions in the lottery then immediately taking it to a roulette table and betting it all on black. It's the very definition of pushing your luck.
Agreed, this is useful even outside of the criminal world, it can apply to pretty much anyone who doesn't stop doing something that's risky and dangerous. At first they'll do it without much suspicion and they're fine, after a while they get caught but aren't really facing big issues from it (should just be a warning sign to stop it altogether), and then keep doing it until it finally hits them In the face in the form of a huge problem that was caused by the risky thing they did, they never realized they should reconsider it until it reached a breaking point.
He also (apparently) had a conscience. That thing where he'd print a bunch of money and launder it at the mall? He and his wife (and often, friends) would have to move $30,000 a time through the mall. At first, they kept the stuff they bought.... but over time there was only so much sub-$10 stuff you want from the mall. So they started throwing away the stuff they'd bought at the nearest (safe) Dumpster near the mall. But that bothered him too - there was no point in buying a whole bunch of stuff just to immediately throw it away. That's wasteful. So he had his wife and friends try to spend as much as possible on things needed at homeless or battered women's shelters: deodorant, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, etc. They'd usually drop all that stuff off in front of a church on the way out of town, so they started calling it "Merch for the Church".
Dont take them to corporate places where it seems everybody is on their toes. You wanna try and size up the cashiers maybe buy a thing or two and drop the bill when you know someone wont check it. Another way is to deal with is to straight up look for change from small stalls.
Back in the 70’s when I was still in jr-high, there was a kid who could draw any denomination of currency, by hand perfectly. He fooled the lunch counter lady with one of his bills but was ratted out by another student. I don’t know if he made a career of it, but when I saw him again after college, he did have a new car.
@@bradsanders407 He went on to get a degree in mechanical and computer engineering he also said he received a degree in the arts of some kind, I can’t recall what he said exactly, it’s been 45 years since I’ve seen him.
You're so old you could technically be a grandparent of mine. I know for a fact that my granny had never had a computer until she got a tablet in 2010s, and I think she doesn't know how to use the caps lock button and other stuff, so her messages look retarded. Having been introduced to a computer at 3, I always take this tech for granted, and my granny wanted to keep VHS tapes so that she could "show cartoons to her grand-grandkids" (I don't even have a girlfriend). Why be restricted by a few physical VHS copies when you can use your damn tablet to accomplish the same goal? Could you please adopt my mom so that I can have a tech-savvy cringe-free grandparent? Thanks in advance.
I saw a documentary years ago about a guy in the States who would hand-draw bills and offer them as payment. He was always clear to businesses that it was a copy, that he was offering them artwork and not actual money. He had various encounters with law enforcement, at least in part because some business owners reported him despite the fact they weren't victims of a crime; but of course he was breaking the law by copying bills, because that's a crime by itself. I wish I could remember more!
Recently in my city, some counterfeit 100s are getting spread around. What's funny is the bold blue text that says "COPY" in the bottom left corner of the bill
Thatr doesnt sound possible, modern bills have a lot more security features than you think. There are certain patterns on bills, like a 3 dot combination, that tells just about any copy machine in the world to not print it or slap VOID all over it, the extra security just ruin the copy.
Worked as a cashier for several years and we didn't mark notes based on customer appearance, but rather store policy - mark everything higher than a 10. The worst part, though, is that it often felt like either the whole ass town had counterfeit money, or something changed about the process that made newer bills incompatible with older counterfeit markers because they would make the same brownish-yellow mark on bills (that came straight from the bank) as it did on a regular piece of paper.
Yeah we had the same policy and pen problem at a local stadium. I'm convinced the ink in those pens go bad and we only ever got the cheapest end of life pens
Interesting conclusion. He applied his detail oriented counterfeit skills to art and has flourished. No doubt him and his son being in the same cell for the same crime did indeed lead him to take a good long look in the mirror and not like what he saw. An ultimately heartwarming story.
I come from a family who used to print things, and I used to have a job at a security printing firm. It was a Japanese company who made certain components for banknote printing, and the machinery, along with designers doing artwork etc. I was told a fun fact one day whilst in the workshop area - that the liquid in the plating bath right in front of me contained enough Cyanide to wipe out the whole population of London 😳
Well thats certainly one way to be sure its not counterfeit. Use a bunch of controlled substances during the process. Who could get their hands on that (probably lots of people, but hey. Optimism)
Unrelated but my dad used to work up Fleet St printing newspapers in the 80s. There were a lot of strikes due to mass layoffs (see Wapping Riots) Anyway my dad said that when in official boardroom talks with the unions to settle the disputes, Rupert Murdoch had such contempt the union that he used to fling his legs up in the air and light his farts on fire. A true measure of the man.
Here in Australia our banknotes are polymer based, making counterfeits very obvious. I've seen fake $100 Aussie bills and even when they try to print them on polymer sheets, you can tell from 100 yards away the colours look completely wrong, the resolution is terrible and the transparent window is very foggy. Touching it reveals the flaws even quicker but people still do it. I was told that these notes are typically passed during peak times at fast food places as the employees are too busy serving food to take note of the fake note. This was confirmed by a friend who used to work at McD's, saying they got a few fakes a week at their store.
You can spot the fakes a mile away... When they are bad! I would bet a few good fakes have passed you by unnoticed. Counterfeit attempts are quite common, and most of them are easy to spot as the one making them is truly an idiot without skill. But the ones that make good counterfeits are rarely noticed in time before they've flooded circulation with their good fakes.
@@RealCadde plastic bill, clear plastic middle sections, funky colouration. ‘Bout as easy to fake as a Canadian bill. Which is to say, not worth the time put in to it.
@@RealCadde Even a good polymer fake is bad because the methods used for printing these banknotes are an Australian state secret. As a result, it has been impossible to replicate them to even look 20% convincing and that's the good fakes. The ones I saw recently when a mate of mine got scammed on FB marketplace (he took an envelope of cash at midnight, and didn't bother counting the bills in hand) were so awful that as soon as someone saw them on the table, they knew they were fake. The reason they get into circulation is when people are too rushed off their feet to notive anything, or are simply too lazy like my stupid friend.
@@ComedicLetter By your logic, printing them is not worth the time either. As in, the real mint. Not fakes. They put them out at a rate of thousands per minute. They can be replicated.
I worked for a Casino years ago and we had a counterfeiting recognition course. There was a outfit in the states that made almost perfect bill they had a signature, there own federal reserve stamp. Federal reserve print the bills and their are 12 of them and each of them have their own stamp on the bills.
@@goonfish1704 can't remember that detail now was probably 25 years ago now. The federal reserve stamp is a small letter and a number between 1 and 12 so it wouldn't be something that anyone would casually notice
@@davidconnellan6875 thanks for the info, I’m from NZ where we very rarely get counterfeit money and when we do it’s incredibly shoddy. Amazes me that people can get so good at mimicking American notes that they’d actually put a signature on it.
Kind of reminds me of the movie “Catch Me if You Can”, that guy really put his dedication into pretty much everything he did, and once he was arrested, the FBI gave him a job so he could help them with counterfeit money and other things as well. He was really amazing at what he did, and he ended up doing something good in the end.
That was a true story. Kid actually passed the bar and became a lawyer, became a pilot, etc. Frank something is his name. The fbi actually employed him as well as part of a plea deal. Otherwise he would be rotting in jail right now more than likely.
I knew a dude from Florida that figured out away and was only brought down because of his personal greed. I'll never forget seeing it on the news like yup that explains a lot. He was even able to get less time because he showed the feds exactly how to do it
I look at all the work he put into counterfeiting and wonder what he would have accomplished if he had spent the effort on something else. Like a really sweet bank heist.
Some notes from a currency nerd. Great video though, a lot of this info is purposefully difficult to find online. It would have been nice for you to explain the different types of counter fitting in a video about counter fitting though. Interesting story nonetheless, as always Qxir. I’m a long-time fan 2:46 - Watermarks are not made from altering the thickness or the density of the paper, at least not intentionally. Any density changes come from smaller length fibers packing efficiency changes vs longer fibers, and the note is the same thickness throughout, as per BEP specifications. The true watermark making process is IP of Crane Currency in Massachusetts. 3:05 - Interwoven? Interesting choice of words because weaving is not a part of the bill-making process. Inlaid would be a better description. 4:25 - He would not be able to replicate the color that the security strip glows when under UV light, or the micro printed design of the US flag and number 100 on the strip, but to the untrained eye this could be plausible. Other considerations: security fibers that are included in the paper making process glow in 3 different colors when exposed to UV light, the new 2013 bill has an Optically-Variable-Thread that would be near impossible to replicate, and the bill-testing pens rely on the ink’s reaction with the sizing agent used on the paper. I doubt that the phonebook company uses the same trade-secret size, so likely the pen did not display the exact same color as currency paper.
@YeaMan Oh my god, the person who wrote this bot included a space after the name even though it already added one automatically! 🤣🤣. You had one job...
I never once bought blank news print that is half the weight of money and is 1 of 3 paper that passes the pen test, I never printed on one side a $100 front then flipped it over and printed GWs face. I never took another piece of newsprint and printed the $100 back on it then flipped that over and printed the strip. THEN I never glued the 2 together making the 2 pieces that were each half the weight of a $100 to make it very close to a real $100s actual weight. I never sprayed Aqua Net hairspray on the finished product so it had that real feel. Then I never ended with a PERFECT match of weight feel and look, that also passed the pen test. 😉
Please help me I have binged this series for so long, I am not kidding, I started watching yesterday, it’s 2am right now, and I’m supposed to be up at 7am for school
hey qxir... love the video, you never fail to impress your fans... one minor detail you missed when you were talking about the security features of the $100 bill: that security strip also changes color if shined under UV lighting, iirc $100 shines a reddish color... other bills had it too if im not mistaken ($50 yellow, $20 a lightish blue, $10 a bright red)
Always a banger, Qxir. You're easily one of my favorite TH-camrs, if not my absolute favorite, and I always look forward to your next video. So many TH-camrs try to be funny while being interesting and I always give them the obligatory chuckle, but you're actually really witty and interesting. Seriously, your jokes always make me laugh and I'm usually learning something along the way.
His story is one of my absolute favourite stories in the world. I've seen everything he's in, and I'm damn happy *you* did a vid on him! ON MY BIRTHDAY! The perfect birthday gift.
I’ve already been through all your videos! Every single one of them! I wish you could upload every day. Your talents and choice of topics to cover are amazing!
Art is all about money laundering and name recognition, mostly the recognition. If you wanna make it in the art world you need to either have famous friends or already have some degree of fame. Do a bunch of dumb things to get famous and then make art that looks good enough to people laundering money and then keep doing it = success!! Now that I have told the secrets I will be eagerly awaiting to hear your success story, Mr. Or Mrs. Mint
Fun fact about those counterfeit "detector" pens - they don't actually determine if a bill is real or not, they're simply used to determine what the paper is made of. Regular paper has starch in it from it's production from trees, whereas bills are printed on a cotton blend, so a real bill does not have starch. The pen reacts with starch, so instead of a "counterfeit detector", it should really be called a "starch detector" to avoid confusion as to how it really works (which almost no one is ever told about). You could *technically* fool the pen by putting a barrier between the starchy paper and the ink from the pen...there have been demonstrations that show that you can take a piece of paper and spray it down with, say, hair spray to create a layer of film over the paper and the pen will pass it off as "real"! This is the dangerous part of relying only on the pen for counterfeit detection - it's useful but ONLY when combined with looking for the other security measures that are in use, so if you're a cashier or someone who handles money, don't assume the pen is always correct.
I remember getting "The Art of Making Money" for Christmas one year. I thought it was just like a Dave Ramsey thing, but it goes in-depth into how Art Williams tackled each step in the process of counterfeiting.
@@brockhospelhorn2094 They've probably changed/made it harder to get stuff to replicate the bill since. Plus I can't imagine any phone book companies are in business making physical books anymore.
man I've been around for a while now but seeing you getting ever closer to one million subscribers and its pretty exciting. Idk why its exciting for me but you're almost there, keep up the great work.
For anyone who finds themselves in a position like this, the smart thing to do is to go to the Treasury and tell them you've identified several security flaws with the new bills and ask if there is a reward for informing them, or asking if you could be hired as a contractor.
@@bradsanders407 He means if they find themselves able to identify and source the materials necessary to replicate the dollar but do not recreate the dollar.
Speaking of those counterfeit pens, I discovered in my time at a McDonald's that the Tray liners (the paper sheets they put on your tray) leave a yellow mark with a counterfeit pen. Always thought that was strange.
I love these stories of people who are clearly brilliant, talented, passionate, strong willed and hard working. If only they used that passion to something legal. But this time the person actually used the his talents for something good.
It's actually amazing that the US treasury at one point estimated that one third of all $100 notes in circulation were fake. The design hadn't changed in over 60 years, the 1991 note was the first attempt to rectify this. Some enterprising forgers realized that all US dollars no matter what the denomination, are the same size - so you just bleach a $1 note and print onto that.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm proud of the guy. He managed to turn his life around and even find lots of success doing it. One of the happier endings that I wish I saw more of
One way I'd improve currency would be to use the number as a way to track where it's been previously. If the previous location is too far to be there within the time between scans, it would be flagged as counterfeit since there would be an identical number.
"okay guise we need top of the line security for this $100 bill" n in the back: "how about two phone book pages glued together?" w in the front: "GENIUS"
yooo, the phone book! When I was a wee kiddo I used to take I think it was newspaper and tore it into rough rectangle shapes, I then fed this into a quarter machine and played pinball while the old man did laundry at the laundromat. I only ever did it once, totally worth it.
Imagine getting to free again, just to find out your father died right where you came from. I feel like I’d have a lot of guilt feeling like I left him there. While they were criminals, this still is horrible. I’m glad to see that he seemed to take it the best way he could.
Hey Qxir, love the channel. Think you could please cover the ex hungarian tank driver who stole a t34-85 in protests in hungary? Feel like it would fit in right at home on your channel amongst the other stolen tank videos, and armoured tractors.
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😂 Fun Family💵💵....Now I learned all about the fine art of counterfeiting.
Now what do ya suppose Qxir here used to do before he was an "artist"?
Hmmmm.... maybe the Qxir we have come to know is actually Qxir the third?
So what about the competition??? We need an update man! What's the happening?? Don't leave us hanging!
@@MrAdomus agreed! I second that!
@@MrAdomus I couldn't agree more! What's happening with the contest is exactly why I was in this comment section!
A tip to all would-be criminals: If you ever get caught and charged but the charges get dropped because of improper evidence collection, that's a sign from fate itself that it's time to hang up your hat and retire from crime. This guy continuing to counterfeit after getting away with it the first time is like winning millions in the lottery then immediately taking it to a roulette table and betting it all on black. It's the very definition of pushing your luck.
@YeaMan NahMan
Or maybe to take your "business" somewhere else, like mexico, a counterfeiter like him would be very successful over there.
@@yeaman9844 Begone, bot
@YeaMan get reported
Agreed, this is useful even outside of the criminal world, it can apply to pretty much anyone who doesn't stop doing something that's risky and dangerous. At first they'll do it without much suspicion and they're fine, after a while they get caught but aren't really facing big issues from it (should just be a warning sign to stop it altogether), and then keep doing it until it finally hits them In the face in the form of a huge problem that was caused by the risky thing they did, they never realized they should reconsider it until it reached a breaking point.
He also (apparently) had a conscience. That thing where he'd print a bunch of money and launder it at the mall? He and his wife (and often, friends) would have to move $30,000 a time through the mall. At first, they kept the stuff they bought.... but over time there was only so much sub-$10 stuff you want from the mall. So they started throwing away the stuff they'd bought at the nearest (safe) Dumpster near the mall. But that bothered him too - there was no point in buying a whole bunch of stuff just to immediately throw it away. That's wasteful. So he had his wife and friends try to spend as much as possible on things needed at homeless or battered women's shelters: deodorant, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, etc. They'd usually drop all that stuff off in front of a church on the way out of town, so they started calling it "Merch for the Church".
That's what I would do if I were a criminal, which I absolutely am not.
@@LagrangePoint0 Yeah sure, I definitely trust you
"You are Bad Guy! But that does not mean that you are bad guy."
@@omganotherun Doesn't**
Sorry to correct you but thought you might be sending the opposite message of what you'd planned 😆
@@douggiles7647 lol Fixed. Tnx
The counterfeiting is really cool but the social engineering that goes into figuring out how to get the things needed is the same thing hackers do.
Agreed 👍💯
Dont take them to corporate places where it seems everybody is on their toes. You wanna try and size up the cashiers maybe buy a thing or two and drop the bill when you know someone wont check it.
Another way is to deal with is to straight up look for change from small stalls.
@@williejones6446 that’s a pretty smart way to spend counterfeit bills, just ask a food truck or something if they can break it into 20s
@@williejones6446 Walk with purpose, Act like you're supposed to be there, and have an out. Corporations aren't as secure as they want to be seen as.
Social engineering has been around a lot longer than "hackers" 🤣
Back in the 70’s when I was still in jr-high, there was a kid who could draw any denomination of currency, by hand perfectly. He fooled the lunch counter lady with one of his bills but was ratted out by another student. I don’t know if he made a career of it, but when I saw him again after college, he did have a new car.
As long as that would take he may as well get a real job.
@@bradsanders407 He went on to get a degree in mechanical and computer engineering he also said he received a degree in the arts of some kind, I can’t recall what he said exactly, it’s been 45 years since I’ve seen him.
Dirty rats 🐀
You're so old you could technically be a grandparent of mine. I know for a fact that my granny had never had a computer until she got a tablet in 2010s, and I think she doesn't know how to use the caps lock button and other stuff, so her messages look retarded. Having been introduced to a computer at 3, I always take this tech for granted, and my granny wanted to keep VHS tapes so that she could "show cartoons to her grand-grandkids" (I don't even have a girlfriend). Why be restricted by a few physical VHS copies when you can use your damn tablet to accomplish the same goal? Could you please adopt my mom so that I can have a tech-savvy cringe-free grandparent? Thanks in advance.
I saw a documentary years ago about a guy in the States who would hand-draw bills and offer them as payment. He was always clear to businesses that it was a copy, that he was offering them artwork and not actual money. He had various encounters with law enforcement, at least in part because some business owners reported him despite the fact they weren't victims of a crime; but of course he was breaking the law by copying bills, because that's a crime by itself. I wish I could remember more!
Pretty funny how he was smart enough to trade the counterfeit for a bunch of real bills, but not wise enough to quit while he was ahead lmao
But he was smart enough to turn his life around and become a succesful artist, so he definetly isn't stupid
That was a rule from the guy that taught him counterfeiting, he was apperently a role model to him.
@@n1ppe the guy is absolutely talented and smart, he got caught because he was surrounded with stupid.
@@LagrangePoint0 he chose to be surrounded by stupid, so I guess he's both
@@nothanks6784 Yeah, kinda, he was stupid enough to trust his family. My worst business fuckups happened because I involved/trusted my family.
Recently in my city, some counterfeit 100s are getting spread around. What's funny is the bold blue text that says "COPY" in the bottom left corner of the bill
A lot of people can't see the forest because of the trees in the way.
@@darksu6947 i feel like that mostly womams
@@MrPaxio why?
;';'. Space double space ABC DEFG heart emoji laughing emoji us
Thatr doesnt sound possible, modern bills have a lot more security features than you think. There are certain patterns on bills, like a 3 dot combination, that tells just about any copy machine in the world to not print it or slap VOID all over it, the extra security just ruin the copy.
Worked as a cashier for several years and we didn't mark notes based on customer appearance, but rather store policy - mark everything higher than a 10.
The worst part, though, is that it often felt like either the whole ass town had counterfeit money, or something changed about the process that made newer bills incompatible with older counterfeit markers because they would make the same brownish-yellow mark on bills (that came straight from the bank) as it did on a regular piece of paper.
Yeah we had the same policy and pen problem at a local stadium. I'm convinced the ink in those pens go bad and we only ever got the cheapest end of life pens
@@NoName5589 Your explanation makes more sense than my theories lol
@@Madara8989 I hope that explanation is at least close, it's the only one I have :P
@@Madara8989 Plot twist: everyont in your town was a davinci-level counterfeiters.
Wow, thank you for sharing$$$🙏👌👻
Honestly, good to hear he turned his life around, good for him
Or he just stopped getting caught. Either way, right optics! :)
idk, if you know anything about the art market, counterfitting is probably a more productive and ethical career
@@ScottLovenbergthe cops are probably all over him especially when he got out I think he’s done with crime
Interesting conclusion. He applied his detail oriented counterfeit skills to art and has flourished. No doubt him and his son being in the same cell for the same crime did indeed lead him to take a good long look in the mirror and not like what he saw. An ultimately heartwarming story.
I come from a family who used to print things, and I used to have a job at a security printing firm.
It was a Japanese company who made certain components for banknote printing, and the machinery, along with designers doing artwork etc.
I was told a fun fact one day whilst in the workshop area - that the liquid in the plating bath right in front of me contained enough Cyanide to wipe out the whole population of London 😳
Well thats certainly one way to be sure its not counterfeit. Use a bunch of controlled substances during the process. Who could get their hands on that (probably lots of people, but hey. Optimism)
so instead of counterfeiting money we could wipe out the city of london instead?
Unrelated but my dad used to work up Fleet St printing newspapers in the 80s.
There were a lot of strikes due to mass layoffs (see Wapping Riots)
Anyway my dad said that when in official boardroom talks with the unions to settle the disputes,
Rupert Murdoch had such contempt the union that he used to fling his legs up in the air and light his farts on fire. A true measure of the man.
And you didn't wipe it? What's wrong with you man?, too many dollar fumes in your system?
@@ILLUMINATED-1 Except cyanide isn't a controlled substance. You can buy it by the pound.
Gotta love these types of stories! Thanks for the Tale! Now I can counterfeit my own cash!
@@yeaman9844 you are such a bot you said that exact same comment like 75 times
@@lukecarr6986Here king, you dropped this: 👑
😢 The most beautiful car 4:33 I ever seen.
@@anynonymous1585 if he don't take his crown back, can I have it?
@@robertcuratolo5339 The P1 or the poorly drawn car?
Here in Australia our banknotes are polymer based, making counterfeits very obvious.
I've seen fake $100 Aussie bills and even when they try to print them on polymer sheets, you can tell from 100 yards away the colours look completely wrong, the resolution is terrible and the transparent window is very foggy.
Touching it reveals the flaws even quicker but people still do it.
I was told that these notes are typically passed during peak times at fast food places as the employees are too busy serving food to take note of the fake note.
This was confirmed by a friend who used to work at McD's, saying they got a few fakes a week at their store.
Same with Canadian bills. We’ve got clear sections and specific colourstions
You can spot the fakes a mile away... When they are bad!
I would bet a few good fakes have passed you by unnoticed.
Counterfeit attempts are quite common, and most of them are easy to spot as the one making them is truly an idiot without skill.
But the ones that make good counterfeits are rarely noticed in time before they've flooded circulation with their good fakes.
@@RealCadde plastic bill, clear plastic middle sections, funky colouration. ‘Bout as easy to fake as a Canadian bill.
Which is to say, not worth the time put in to it.
@@RealCadde Even a good polymer fake is bad because the methods used for printing these banknotes are an Australian state secret.
As a result, it has been impossible to replicate them to even look 20% convincing and that's the good fakes.
The ones I saw recently when a mate of mine got scammed on FB marketplace (he took an envelope of cash at midnight, and didn't bother counting the bills in hand) were so awful that as soon as someone saw them on the table, they knew they were fake.
The reason they get into circulation is when people are too rushed off their feet to notive anything, or are simply too lazy like my stupid friend.
@@ComedicLetter By your logic, printing them is not worth the time either.
As in, the real mint. Not fakes.
They put them out at a rate of thousands per minute. They can be replicated.
This man’s life is a waaay crazier ride than this video gives justice to, I would highly recommend finding more about him
But why worry about other lives when we all have our own lives to worry about
@@mitsuri3096 because you learn from others, and it’s just a cool story
@@mitsuri3096
You’d better not watch any fiction after saying that. “Why worry about fake things when there are real things to worry about.”
The Art Of Money
I worked for a Casino years ago and we had a counterfeiting recognition course. There was a outfit in the states that made almost perfect bill they had a signature, there own federal reserve stamp. Federal reserve print the bills and their are 12 of them and each of them have their own stamp on the bills.
Huh?
@@bradsanders407 yeah the counterfeiters were so proud of their work they basically put their own signature on the bills they made.
@@davidconnellan6875 that’s quite brazen, what did their version of the stamp look like?
@@goonfish1704 can't remember that detail now was probably 25 years ago now. The federal reserve stamp is a small letter and a number between 1 and 12 so it wouldn't be something that anyone would casually notice
@@davidconnellan6875 thanks for the info, I’m from NZ where we very rarely get counterfeit money and when we do it’s incredibly shoddy. Amazes me that people can get so good at mimicking American notes that they’d actually put a signature on it.
Kind of reminds me of the movie “Catch Me if You Can”, that guy really put his dedication into pretty much everything he did, and once he was arrested, the FBI gave him a job so he could help them with counterfeit money and other things as well. He was really amazing at what he did, and he ended up doing something good in the end.
His name is Frank Abagnale Jr. He basically reinvented paper checks. He knew them better than the banks!
That was a true story. Kid actually passed the bar and became a lawyer, became a pilot, etc. Frank something is his name. The fbi actually employed him as well as part of a plea deal. Otherwise he would be rotting in jail right now more than likely.
@@aperson4713frank abergnale jr !
A note: in america, no American would ever use the word "banknotes" to describe something we would call "dollars" or even more crudely, "bucks".
The fact they released him on the same year of the most recent $100 bill redesign is amazing
We not gonna mention that this guy's art absolutely slaps?
I knew a dude from Florida that figured out away and was only brought down because of his personal greed. I'll never forget seeing it on the news like yup that explains a lot. He was even able to get less time because he showed the feds exactly how to do it
Just like that level for Payday: The Heist.
Surprisingly wholesome ending for a story about generations of criminals
This guy had two main attributes you mention; talent and competence. Most of us are not so lucky.
I’m happy he turned around, his art is phenomenal!
Not really.but cool someones buying it
I look at all the work he put into counterfeiting and wonder what he would have accomplished if he had spent the effort on something else. Like a really sweet bank heist.
Bro, he made millions using fake notes that are a way less severe crime that armed robberies, so he was smarter than you.
Imagine what we as a society could accomplish if half of us got think about anything OTHER than having enough paper to survive.
So he went from laundering money to laundering money via art. Nice, he did learn a lot!
Qxir your drawings, and scripts, are the best, they never fail to give me the belly chuckles. Hats off to you sir.
This man only makes bangers
@YeaMan who asked
@YeaMan yeah you only replied the same thing to like 20 other ppl
@YeaMan 🤖
Some notes from a currency nerd. Great video though, a lot of this info is purposefully difficult to find online. It would have been nice for you to explain the different types of counter fitting in a video about counter fitting though. Interesting story nonetheless, as always Qxir. I’m a long-time fan
2:46 - Watermarks are not made from altering the thickness or the density of the paper, at least not intentionally. Any density changes come from smaller length fibers packing efficiency changes vs longer fibers, and the note is the same thickness throughout, as per BEP specifications. The true watermark making process is IP of Crane Currency in Massachusetts.
3:05 - Interwoven? Interesting choice of words because weaving is not a part of the bill-making process. Inlaid would be a better description.
4:25 - He would not be able to replicate the color that the security strip glows when under UV light, or the micro printed design of the US flag and number 100 on the strip, but to the untrained eye this could be plausible.
Other considerations: security fibers that are included in the paper making process glow in 3 different colors when exposed to UV light, the new 2013 bill has an Optically-Variable-Thread that would be near impossible to replicate, and the bill-testing pens rely on the ink’s reaction with the sizing agent used on the paper. I doubt that the phonebook company uses the same trade-secret size, so likely the pen did not display the exact same color as currency paper.
This would make a killer biopic, I’m just saying.
@YeaMan Oh my god, the person who wrote this bot included a space after the name even though it already added one automatically! 🤣🤣. You had one job...
There is a story about this on the show American Greed.
"And I have many others where someone does something crazy and DOESNT turn their life around."
I feel like this is an immensely underrated line
It's pretty cool that some of the banknotes he printed are probably still in the circulation
There’s always someone that will go above and beyond to counterfeit money.
Some people are persistent.
I may or may not be some people
I never once bought blank news print that is half the weight of money and is 1 of 3 paper that passes the pen test, I never printed on one side a $100 front then flipped it over and printed GWs face. I never took another piece of newsprint and printed the $100 back on it then flipped that over and printed the strip. THEN I never glued the 2 together making the 2 pieces that were each half the weight of a $100 to make it very close to a real $100s actual weight. I never sprayed Aqua Net hairspray on the finished product so it had that real feel. Then I never ended with a PERFECT match of weight feel and look, that also passed the pen test. 😉
Good thing you never did that huh
GW's face or Ben Franklin's?
man that ending was actually really wholesome, im glad he changed for the better, and further im impressed by his artwork
use normal pfps u anime kiddo
?
Please help me I have binged this series for so long, I am not kidding, I started watching yesterday, it’s 2am right now, and I’m supposed to be up at 7am for school
hey qxir... love the video, you never fail to impress your fans...
one minor detail you missed when you were talking about the security features of the $100 bill: that security strip also changes color if shined under UV lighting, iirc $100 shines a reddish color... other bills had it too if im not mistaken ($50 yellow, $20 a lightish blue, $10 a bright red)
Always a banger, Qxir. You're easily one of my favorite TH-camrs, if not my absolute favorite, and I always look forward to your next video. So many TH-camrs try to be funny while being interesting and I always give them the obligatory chuckle, but you're actually really witty and interesting. Seriously, your jokes always make me laugh and I'm usually learning something along the way.
His story is one of my absolute favourite stories in the world. I've seen everything he's in, and I'm damn happy *you* did a vid on him! ON MY BIRTHDAY! The perfect birthday gift.
happy birthday
happy birthday my snigger, you should check the movie Project Gutenberg starred by Chow Yun-fat, which is based on this story.
Happy birthday!
If you're new here, congratulations. You've found one of the best channels on TH-cam
Qxir: World's best scheme at disguising a "How to" video as a history lesson.
Imagine counterfeiting so much money over fifteen years and you still make insignificant pocket change compared to what some others make.
I’ve already been through all your videos! Every single one of them! I wish you could upload every day. Your talents and choice of topics to cover are amazing!
This is probably the happiest story on this channel
So if I want to make it in the art world... I should start counterfeiting? sounds good!
NFTs!
@@shinji391 no because that would imply that those could be regarded as art in any way
Art is all about money laundering and name recognition, mostly the recognition. If you wanna make it in the art world you need to either have famous friends or already have some degree of fame. Do a bunch of dumb things to get famous and then make art that looks good enough to people laundering money and then keep doing it = success!!
Now that I have told the secrets I will be eagerly awaiting to hear your success story, Mr. Or Mrs. Mint
Fun fact about those counterfeit "detector" pens - they don't actually determine if a bill is real or not, they're simply used to determine what the paper is made of. Regular paper has starch in it from it's production from trees, whereas bills are printed on a cotton blend, so a real bill does not have starch. The pen reacts with starch, so instead of a "counterfeit detector", it should really be called a "starch detector" to avoid confusion as to how it really works (which almost no one is ever told about).
You could *technically* fool the pen by putting a barrier between the starchy paper and the ink from the pen...there have been demonstrations that show that you can take a piece of paper and spray it down with, say, hair spray to create a layer of film over the paper and the pen will pass it off as "real"!
This is the dangerous part of relying only on the pen for counterfeit detection - it's useful but ONLY when combined with looking for the other security measures that are in use, so if you're a cashier or someone who handles money, don't assume the pen is always correct.
I remember getting "The Art of Making Money" for Christmas one year. I thought it was just like a Dave Ramsey thing, but it goes in-depth into how Art Williams tackled each step in the process of counterfeiting.
How it that book legal
@@brockhospelhorn2094 They've probably changed/made it harder to get stuff to replicate the bill since. Plus I can't imagine any phone book companies are in business making physical books anymore.
the iridescence you mention at about 4:35 is actually pearlescence! closely related phenomena, but definitely separate in appearance
man I've been around for a while now but seeing you getting ever closer to one million subscribers and its pretty exciting. Idk why its exciting for me but you're almost there, keep up the great work.
For anyone who finds themselves in a position like this, the smart thing to do is to go to the Treasury and tell them you've identified several security flaws with the new bills and ask if there is a reward for informing them, or asking if you could be hired as a contractor.
Threat hunting!
Yeah I'm sure that would work out great
@@bradsanders407 He means if they find themselves able to identify and source the materials necessary to replicate the dollar but do not recreate the dollar.
Speaking of those counterfeit pens, I discovered in my time at a McDonald's that the Tray liners (the paper sheets they put on your tray) leave a yellow mark with a counterfeit pen. Always thought that was strange.
What happened to that CreaterDAO voting thing?
Definitely on a watchlist by researching this
That's movie material right there.
I love these stories of people who are clearly brilliant, talented, passionate, strong willed and hard working. If only they used that passion to something legal. But this time the person actually used the his talents for something good.
mentally ill
I felt this way when I got my first hundred dollar bill. Like when I was 15 lol.
The frame with the money coffee table during the 2001 raid caught me by surprise like the fella in the chair and lmao
I love every episode you have produced, plus your art is great and maybe unbeknownst to you, you're hella funny!!!🙏👌👻❣️
>be me
>search qxir to find old video about something
>see '2 minutes ago'
>smile
No.... You gotta find an old one, can't get the new one yet lol
Have a good watch, mates
It's actually amazing that the US treasury at one point estimated that one third of all $100 notes in circulation were fake. The design hadn't changed in over 60 years, the 1991 note was the first attempt to rectify this. Some enterprising forgers realized that all US dollars no matter what the denomination, are the same size - so you just bleach a $1 note and print onto that.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm proud of the guy. He managed to turn his life around and even find lots of success doing it. One of the happier endings that I wish I saw more of
omg i was literally just watching your videos and i saw this posted 5 minutes ago no way
Did you win pal?
The irony is if he wasnt so great of a counterfeiter, he probably would still be in jail from another line of crime or dead instead of so successful.
Cool
Omg just realized I have watched every single one of this guys videos lol
Not gonna lie even though he’s a criminal he is actually pretty smart
There's plenty of smart criminals.
most millionaires are very smart criminals, like the Biden family, the Clinton's, the Pelosi's
@@LagrangePoint0 very true
He sounds like Joe Guerrero from After Prison Show in turning his life around... after prison! Always a good thing to see!
Wow. I genuinely wasn't expecting that ending. That's amazing!!
As a currency collector, I now want one of his counterfeits, unfortunately I'm pretty sure owning one is a crime.
Love the dedication for the family business
I’m very glad he’s apparently on the straight and narrow. Cheers to him.
I luv the good vibes in this episode.
I Really needed that right now.
Keep up the great work Qxir !!
One way I'd improve currency would be to use the number as a way to track where it's been previously. If the previous location is too far to be there within the time between scans, it would be flagged as counterfeit since there would be an identical number.
In my country if even a microscope wind molecule touches a dollar bill it becomes worthless for the bank
I heard this story before thank you for sharing it and telling it in your own words with your own animation
I remember a few days ago, a lady came in our store with a fake 100$ bill, turns out it was a 10$ bill that had been printed over
lol
My grandfather counterfeited bank notes and got caught by the FBI while in a diner.
Not surprised to see Jeffery Epstin at his art gallery on the left side 7:20
"okay guise we need top of the line security for this $100 bill"
n in the back: "how about two phone book pages glued together?"
w in the front: "GENIUS"
its a good day when Qxir uploads
Good thing there are all those security measures we wouldn’t want someone to just start printing off $100 bills
Great to see you back champ! Keep it up.
Life hack: Hair spray circumnavigates the counterfeit paper
I’ve been waiting for you to tell this story
Honestly that is a cool story with a nice ending. Not to mention I actually really dig his art!! He has some real talent
Well, wasn't expecting this turnaround
In the past the secret service would sometimes use a counterfeiter to help catch other counterfeiters.
Thanks for teaching us the basics of counterfeiting money, this video really helped me a lot!
"If perhaps you enjoy the story, let me spin ye a yarn about armored construction equipment" he said with a devilish smile.
yooo, the phone book!
When I was a wee kiddo I used to take I think it was newspaper and tore it into rough rectangle shapes, I then fed this into a quarter machine and played pinball while the old man did laundry at the laundromat. I only ever did it once, totally worth it.
5:28 the money table got me laughing a LOT
Wouldn't be surprised if his art galleries were just fronts to launder more counterfeit money lmao
5:28 the cash coffee table made me belly laugh
Imagine getting to free again, just to find out your father died right where you came from. I feel like I’d have a lot of guilt feeling like I left him there. While they were criminals, this still is horrible. I’m glad to see that he seemed to take it the best way he could.
Hey Qxir, love the channel. Think you could please cover the ex hungarian tank driver who stole a t34-85 in protests in hungary? Feel like it would fit in right at home on your channel amongst the other stolen tank videos, and armoured tractors.
Gotta reach a million subs! Commenting for the algorithm. Love you Qxir ❤️
Just gonna slip all this info into my back pocket
"I'll get ya, ya slippery devil" 😂😂😂
You have to admire great craftsmanship and artistry.