News in Brief

RBNZ Encourages Public to Look for Hologram on Suspected ‘Forged’ Notes

An urban myth circulating in Christchurch, New Zealand about polymer banknotes has led to genuine notes being refused and damaged. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has urged the public to look for a hologram featuring a fern and a map of New Zealand to tell real from fake notes.

The rumour emerged recently that a fake bank note can be spotted if it shows plastic after being scraped with a coin. Retailers, community groups and members of the public reported the supposedly counterfeit notes to the RBNZ.

It seems people were discovering what they thought were counterfeits but were actually genuine banknotes with a little bit of wear on them. In some cases, people had been scraping the notes with a coin and that showed plastic underneath, which is exactly what it should do as they are polymer substrate notes.