I will teach you how to detect counterfeit United States currency notes with reasonable accuracy by eye alone, without the marker pen (which doesn't always work) or any other special equipment. I will teach you how to find and identify the security features of paper currency and some common traits held by many counterfeits. I will also teach you how to do this relatively quickly as you count the money.

Learning this skill will require that you have the eyesight, or adequate vision correction, to see the details of these security features. It will require that you have proper lighting to see these features. And it will require that you practice on your own in order to learn to do it quickly. I cannot guarantee that I will make you an infallible expert, nor can I guarantee that a better counterfeit could not be made to foil the best-trained eye, but I will give you guidance and information which you can use to develop your own skills in counterfeit detection and become better able to protect yourself from fraudulent currency. With somewhere between $70 and $200 million in counterfeit US currency estimated to be in circulation, this can be a very important skill to have.

If I perform this lesson virtually, you will have to provide your own paper currency to practice on. A $20 bill is recommended.