History Main / CounterfeitCash

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' ran into some counterfeit bills that the Secret Service had released on purpose--part SecretTestOfCharacter, part to track criminal organizations.
* ''Series/CSIMiami''
** The cast runs into some super-bills that were distributed from an off-shore gambling casino. Wolfe gets the hairy eyeball from Caleigh when he turns up with some on his person.
** Another episode has Horatio stopping an armed robbery of a bank truck. When going over the cash, a tech discovers the money is actually Iraqi dinars washed out and printed over with real-looking U.S. currency. The robber can't believe someone swapped the cash for fake before he got to it.
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': The first season finale, "What You See Is What You See," was based around this. "The Ride In" from season 3 and "Keep It Real" in season 8 involved counterfeiting as well.

** The story "The Joker's Millions" has the Joker inheriting rival mob boss "King" Barlowe's fortune, only to find out most of it was fake. Posthumously, [[XanatosGambit Barlowe knew]] the clown [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted would waste the real cash quickly]] and now has to choose between admitting a dead man conned him and become Gotham's ButtMonkey (which ''he'' won't do due to his tremendous ego), getting jailed [[IntimidatingRevenueService for tax evasion]] (which he can't do either), or returning to crime to pay off the inheritance taxes and protect his image. This was later adapted into an episode for ''WesternAnimation/TheNewBatmanAdventures''.

* In ''Film/LethalWeapon4'', fake bills were being cranked out in order to bribe the brother of a crime boss out of prison.

*** In some versions, the mark '''does''' report the case... only to get more years than the seller (who was guilty of fraud, but not counterfeiting since he didn't actually create any fake money).

*** In some versions, the mark '''does''' report the case... only to get more years than the seller.

* As an aside: US currency is among the most difficult to counterfeit in the world. The exact security methods are both well-known and secret: there's a watermark in every bill[[labelnote:*]]Hold it up to the light and look for the image of the President[[/labelnote]]; there are "miscolored" threads in each bill[[labelnote:*]]the exact number of threads in each denomination is not disclosed[[/labelnote]]; a plastic strip is embedded in the "paper"[[labelnote:*]]Again, hold it up to the light. It should say "US $100" or whatever the amount of the bill is[[/labelnote]]; the "paper" is made from a proprietary mix of linen and cotton[[labelnote:*]]With a unique "feel" or texture. The paper a dollar is printed on does not feel like any other kind of currency paper, and even more than the security measures, supposedly the texture of the paper is almost impossible to duplicate[[/labelnote]]. And that's just in the paper itself: the ink is a whole other story. The official estimate of counterfeit bills to actual bills is 1 in every 10,000. Counterfeits ''do'' exist, however. The US Treasury calls them "Superbills", as they are almost completely indistinguishable from real bills. Most counterfeit cash comes out of North Korea, which managed to get a set of legitimate US current printing plates several decades ago.

** While most US paper currency was significantly redesigned to further impede counterfeiting in the 1990s and 2000s (sometimes more than once, with the 2nd major redesigns for the $50 and $100 making them multicolored rather than just green), the $1 and $2 bills were not. The $1 has been effectively unchanged since 1963, and the $2 since 1976. This is because their value is considered too low to be worth counterfeiting and thus it's not worth the expense of redesigning them.

* The primary function of the United States Secret Service is ''not'' protecting the President of the United States [[CommonKnowledge (that's a secondary function)]] but investigating cases of counterfeiting and forgery. The presidential protection duty was added in 1901 because the Secret Service was at the time the only federal law enforcement agency with sufficient manpower, and anti-counterfeiting mission has been expanded to cover all manner of [[WhiteCollarCrime financial crimes]], but the bulk of their work is still tracking down counterfeiters. Website/TheOtherWiki details it [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service here.]]

* ''Film/TheATeam'' are tasked by General Morris to retrieve millions in counterfeit money printed in the one U.S. printing press not on American soil. The money, and more importantly the printing plates, become the MacGuffin of the film.

[[caption-width-right:347:Seems legit.]]

* Similarly to the $2 bill example, Scottish pound notes (which are technically not legal tender, even in Scotland[[note]]They're [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promissory_note promissory notes]] issued by commercial banks; one of the reasons the UK didn't sign up to the Euro was that Scotland would lose the right to print them.[[/note]], but have a 1 to 1 exchange rate with English pounds) are allegedly sometimes rejected because they're mistaken for forgeries (or conversely - since Scotland still has paper £1 notes - they hand one over and get change for a fiver), although it's just as often because a lack of familiarity makes it harder to spot forgeries (the further south you go, the less likely Scottish currency is to be accepted). The latter is also true of £50 notes of either denomination (which normally only crop up in birthday cards or suspiciously large cash payouts).

** In the flashback arc of "The Valley of Fear", Pinkerton Detective Birdy Edwards infiltrated the Scowrers by claiming to be a counterfeiter. In truth, the money he was "forging" for the gang while gathering evidence against them was real.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' attempted this once and failed miserably, as they do at everything. They spent 1 real dollar to make 10 photocopies of that dollar. They were black-and-white, one-sided copies on ordinary paper which were cut out extremely poorly. The duo then tried to photocopy ''coins''. When they tried to spend this "money", they got tossed out of the store, then went back to the copy shop and tried to spend the fake money to make even more fake money.

* ''Film/TheCounterfeiters'' (novel and film) is a VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory of a group of Jews caught during WWII that were made to counterfeit pounds and dollars to weaken the UK and US economy.

* This was the line of business for Mark Gor and Sung Tse Ho in Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/ABetterTomorrow''.

** In the ''ComicBook/BatmanBlackAndWhite'' story "Funny Money", a criminal gang hijacks a shipment of the special paper that real banknotes are printed on so that they can use it to print undetectable counterfeit hundred dollar bills.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

-->'''Joy''': Excuse me, can I get some more green ink in this machine?\\
'''Kenny''': Is that...are you...''counterfeiting?!''\\
'''Joy''': Shh! Keep quiet about this, and I'll make it worth your while.\\
'''Kenny''': I can't allow you to do that! COPY RESPONSIBLY! COPY RESPONSIBLY!

* The ''Counterfeit'' mission in ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' naturally has the crew hitting a money printing operation for their own gain. More specifically, the target is a pair of neighbors - Mitchell and Wilson - who are making a killing through joint use of a counterfeit money printer hidden in an underground room connected to both of their basements. The goal of the mission is to take their money printing plates and scram, though the remake in [[VideoGame/PAYDAY2 the sequel]] allows the crew to use the money printer, and Mitchell and Wilson's endless supply of printer ink and paper, to make as much fake cash as they'd like.

** Ironically, Newton's Master of the Mint post was, at the time, essentially a sinecure -- a form of stipend to give him funding and spare time for more scientific work. Newton, however, took his new responsibilities seriously, and made several important innovations in minting (ie. the idea to "mill" the edges of coins, making it obvious when someone clipped the edges of precious metal off).

* William Chaloner, a seventeenth century coiner and forger, who became the bane of Sir Isaac Newton's existence during the scientist's career as Master of the Mint.
** Ironically, Newton's Master of the Mint post was, at the time, essentially a sinecure -- a form of stipend to give him funding and spare time for more scientific work. Newton, however, took his new responsibilities seriously, and made several important innovations in minting.

* Dimitri's operation in ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'', using Clockwerk's tail feathers as printing plates for his counterfeit cash print. Since the tail feathers are made from an indestructible metal, the printing plates will never wear out, ensuring unlimited fake money. GentlemanThief Sly is shocked that someone could stoop as low as printing their own money.

* In the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' short story, "Hornblower and the Widow [=McCool=]", Hornblower discovers several bundles of banknotes in a secret compartment of a sailor's chest and suspects they were counterfeit, meant to support Irish revolutionaries, along with a propaganda letter and a list of confederates. [[spoiler:He puts everything back and has the chest thrown overboard so as not to embarrass the officer who previously inspected the chest but missed the secret compartment. He later finds out the sailor was unwed, having lied to have his chest and an encoded poem sent to an address in Ireland to support further revolts.]]

* ''Series/{{Bottom}}'' had an episode featuring the production of genuine £27 notes, pornographic depictions of the Royal Family, "Welsh money" (triangular), and the infamous line "That's not the queen, it's Danny La Rue!" "Well, it's ''a'' queen..."

* In Creator/HayaoMiyazaki's film ''[[Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro]]'', the MacGuffin was a counterfeiting set-up reputed to be so good that its output was indistinguishable from the real thing - and [[BeenThereShapedHistory causing numerous upending world events in its wake]]. Lupin, being the expert that he is, is one of the few that can spot these legendary "Gothic Bills".

* ''ComicBook/BatmanBlackAndWhite'': In "Funny Money", a criminal gang hijacks a shipment of the special paper that real banknotes are printed on so that they can use it to print undetectable counterfeit hundred dollar bills.
* The "Joker's Millions" comic storyline has ComicBook/TheJoker inheriting rival mob boss "King" Barlowe's fortune, only to find out most of it was fake. Posthumously, [[XanatosGambit Barlowe knew]] the clown [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted would waste the real cash quickly]] and now has to choose between admitting a dead man conned him and become Gotham's ButtMonkey (which ''he'' won't do due to his tremendous ego), getting jailed [[IntimidatingRevenueService for tax evasion]] (which he can't do either), or returning to crime to pay off the inheritance taxes and protect his image. This was later adapted into an episode for ''WesternAnimation/TheNewBatmanAdventures''.

** Similarly, a Gold Key issue of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' had the gang helping at a telethon which gets terrorized by a (duh!) ghost. During the confusion, Daphne makes change from it as she runs an errand for the telethon host. The police are immediately called in as the $10 Daphne gave for the coffee she bought was counterfeit.
* ''ComicBook/TheFabulousFurryFreakBrothers:''
** In an AllJustADream episode, Phineas gets a job as a printer. He starts printing fake bills, only for the FBI to burst in … but they're looking for pornography, and don't care about the cash, because "that stuff soon won't be worth the paper it's printed on."
** The brothers get in trouble in Mexico. Don Longjuan The Yaqui Brujo uses some real notes, a pair of scissors and a colour photocopier to make high-value fake notes (e.g. US$25,000) to bribe them out. By the time the fakes are detected, the brothers are well away.
* In one ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' story we meet the master counterfeiter Fenimore Buttercup, who would have been successful, had he not printed ''3-dollar bills'' and ''signed them with his name''!
-->I am an artist! Shouldn't an artist sign his masterpieces?

-->'''Greeley:''' When did you realize the $3 dollar bills were counterfeited?\\
'''Banker (utterly shocked):''' Counterfeited? My $3 dollar bills?

* Invoked then averted in a ''ComicBook/RichieRich'' short story where US government treasury agents suspect Richie of running a counterfeiting press. After breaking down the doors and handcuffing Richie, they then discover that all of the "notes" have Richie's photo along with "Play Money" printed clearly on them.
--> '''Agent #1:''' "Richie didn't ''say'' we have to repair the doors."
--> '''Agent #2:''' "You want his father to buy the mint and fire you?"

** This was the mystery of [[spoiler: The Black Island]] in the eponymous adventure.
** ''The Crab With The Golden Claw'' also starts with mentions of counterfeit coins, but this plot point is soon dropped and forgotten after the murder and Tintin's abduction.