"Big-money." (via stock photography)
Almost all of American currency in paper form features a mylar security strip that responds to UV light. This is one of the many tricks to help determine whether or not the bills are counterfeit. Conspiracy theorists think that these strips are used for money tracking as well as a host of other nefarious government doings. As crazy as it sounds, they are partially right.
New printing methods incorporate metal filaments or flecks embedded in the ink that makes the bills partially magnetic. This not only makes it harder to counterfeit money, but it is also a way to track it. Christopher Fuller and Antao Chen from the University of Washington have found that the magnetic inks used in newer currency can be detected, albeit in large bundles, from a distance. The pair found that they could use a standard everyday metal detector to locate paper bills at an incredible distance of 3 centimeters. The team also found that adding increments of five dollar bills not only increased the strength and distance of the reading capabilities, the detector could pick up but also how much money was in the bundle (not really accurate as every bill, regardless of amount, contains the same amount of ink). While the distance of detection is relatively small, the process could be used in airports and border checkpoints to curb money funneling to narco-states. Somehow I think this going to be more ‘fuel to the fire’ for conspiracy junkies rather than an efficient way of detecting money on the move.
Cabe
