HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE AUTHENTIC RMBs FROM FAKES
When you are visiting and spending money in Beijing, it is possible, though not very often, that you might encounter counterfeit banknotes. In China, if banknotes were old, tattered or torn and were hard to spend, you could exchange notes for new ones at Chinese banks. But counterfeits will be confiscated by the banks. So it is better for you to know how to tell genuine RMB notes from fake ones. There are four means you could use to tell fake banknotes: look, touch, listen and detect.
How to look? First, look at the watermark on the left of the notes. When you put the paper note against the light, you will see watermarks which are either a portrait of Mao Zedong or a flower. While the watermark for the 1980-type 5-yuan paper notes is ancient Chinese coins. Secondly, look at the drawn lines (or called security lines). The lines in fake paper notes are often more distinct or misty and hard to find. Thirdly, look at the color of the paper notes. The color of fake paper notes are often more pronounced and often not clear.
How to touch then? Since the above 5-yuan paper notes use the technology of intaglio printing, you could have a slight concave-convex feeling left by the printing ink when you touch the real notes. Counterfeits seized by the authorities were usually printed with offset press, which made the notes smooth without any concave-convex feeling.
How to listen? The paper notes are made of dedicated paper. Relatively new bank notes can produce clear sound when fluff them or use fingers to flip them. The texture of a fake note tends to be smoother and softer than authentic notes, so fake notes would make a muffled sound.
Lastly, how to detect. If possible, you could use instruments to carry out fluorescence checks. Fake banknotes, most of which use bleached paper to print, have a fluorescent reflection and will become white and bright under fluorescent light.
