money...

I'd appreciate any opinions/info available
on whether a rumor I heard is true or not.

I just learned that US bills, $20 and above,
have a magnetic strip embedded in the bill, on
the left hand side.  Looking at the front of
the bill, under the "U" in United States,
it's clearly visible on those bill printed
in 1990 and thereafter.  Supposedly, bills
in the $5 and $10 amounts have started being
fixed in such a way.

Now...the interesting part.  The rumor is
that it is possible to detect, at a modest
distance, the existance of and the amount
of currancy being carried.  Thus, if a person
boarded an airplane carrying $12,000 in cash
in a money belt, it would be possible to 
detect that fact.  The rumor expands that
this has in fact already been implemented at
one airport (at least).

Any thoughts?

On Wed, 9 Mar 1994, David L Womack wrote:

>                         . . . The rumor is
> that it is possible to detect, at a modest
> distance, the existance of and the amount
> of currancy being carried.  Thus, if a person
> boarded an airplane carrying $12,000 in cash
> in a money belt, it would be possible to 
> detect that fact.  The rumor expands that
> this has in fact already been implemented at
> one airport (at least).
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 

*IF* this is true, you will probably still have
the "Taco Bell" solution available to you for the
foreseeable future ("Run for the Border").  

When that gets shut down, there will still be 
private aircraft and private yachts.

But by that time, you'll be able to just send
digital cash out of the country.


 S a n d y

David L Womack says:
> I'd appreciate any opinions/info available
> on whether a rumor I heard is true or not.
> 
> I just learned that US bills, $20 and above,
> have a magnetic strip embedded in the bill, on
> the left hand side.  Looking at the front of
> the bill, under the "U" in United States,
> it's clearly visible on those bill printed
> in 1990 and thereafter.

You didn't look very closely. Shine a light through the bill, and you
will be able to read on the strip the words "TWENTY USA" on the strip
in question. It isn't to my knowledge magnetic -- just non-xeroxable.

There is also a second security feature -- look closely at the third
ring around Andrew Jackson, and you will see that it is not a ring at
all but microprinting reading "The United States of America".

Perry