I’ve been pretty lucky in Shenzhen to have avoided being returned counterfeit bills.  Not that people haven’t tried.  One such incident was when Robert and I were in Dong Men and a DVD street salesman (to be avoided) wanted me to pay with a crisp 100 instead of a ratty 10 so that he could give me fake 10’s in exchange.  No such luck.  I also had a colleague have a few of his 100s stealthily replaced with fake ones while he was in Dong Men.  Bad move there – don’t ever whip out a few 100s in front of those folks.

But, the other day, I did get handed a fake 50 from a taxi driver.  I was in a hurry so didn’t bother to check.  My mistake.  And, I have had a tough time unloading it.  No one has fallen for it.  I’ve had to get rid of a 20 before, and that was pretty easy.  But, maybe I’ll just stick with this 50 for a constant reminder to be on the lookout.

The 50 RMB note, worth roughly $7,  is the most popular fake bill in China because it’s the second highest bill available.  Any time you purchase something on the street markets or get change from a taxi, you should check.  The funny thing with the taxis is that they are virtually never fooled when you hand a fake one to them.  First, they do this all day.  Second, they have a little infrared light above the overhead light that you can hold a note to which will verify for certain if the bill is fake.

But, what are you to do if you have no such high tech equipment or skill?  Here are the ways that I’ve been told:

• The coarseness of the paper just to the right of Mao’s chin is present on real notes.  This one is tough for me.
• The magnetic strip; this is easy to fake, it seems.  But not to a machine that can read it.
• The detailed symbol in the upper left.  Hard to tell if the note has been crumpled.
• The Mao watermark.  I think you need a lot of experience with this one.
• The note numeral on the lower left on the lower left will sort of sparkle on real notes.
• The half-circle on the front and the half-circle on the back that, when viewed with a back light, form as a perfect circle.  This is the one that works for me.

Let me demonstrate:  Have a look at the two bills below.

[View with PicLens]

One is a real; one is fake.  See the difference in the circles?  The perfect circle is very hard to duplicate.  The only trick is actually paying attention to when you get one in return and making sure that it’s legit.  I think I was laughing it up with the driver when he passed this to me and offered me a friendly, “Bye bye!”.  Well played, sir!