Hi All, Please let me know your thoughts on the following bills. I think they may be fake. The 500 dollar bill feels super smooth? And the text on both like kind of fuzzy? But truthfully, I am mostly a coin guy so I am weary to just mark them off as fakes without double checking. Thank you!
Is there a better photo that I could take for authentication? I tried my scanner, but it wasn't working before. It's okay if not, I think its probably harder to authenticate just based on photos.
The portrait on both notes seem to lack the detailed sharpness that I would expect on a genuine note. I tend to believe that they are counterfeits. Between the two, I have the most doubts about the $1,000. Two caveats. First, I am looking on an iPad. Second, paper money is not my strong point.
Agreed with above in this particular case re them being counterfeits (for me the lathework looks all wrong), but just dropping a note that heavily processed notes can sometimes have some of the qualities that OP has described.
For something like these notes it’s best to see them in person. What I see in the photos makes me suspect.
The $500 has a plate position that doesn't check: that serial number should fall in position B or H, not position C. The $1000 gets that detail right, at least, but as others have said, it still doesn't look great.
+1 -I would take them into your LCS & ask the dealer there what he/she thinks. They can settle the matter quickly.
They look fake to me. As mentioned, the sharpness just isn't there, although bad photos can cause that. Particularly the portraits do not look right, but again that could be because of blurred photography. If, as you say, the photos make them look better, there is no way they are genuine.
I went onto Google Images simply to bring up a photo of a known genuine example of a $1000 note to compare and the first one I clicked on strikes an eerie similarity to the serial number of the note that has been posted on here: https://www.aydincoins.com/currency/usd1000-notes/1934-usd1000-federal-reserve-bank-note I wouldn't be surprised if the front of this note was used to help make the forgery that is shown here on the forum.
