Fake $100 bills show up in Asia

North Korea might be at it again in turning out fake $100 bills.

A report in a British newspaper, the Daily Mail, caught my eye this morning.

The notes in question are old series with fewer anti-counterfeiting devices in them.

That probably means Americans should adopt an attitude toward cash that is already common in much of the world.

As soon as a new design is released, there is a rush to change old notes for new.

People in those other countries are fearing official demonetization of old notes as is common outside the United States.

However, this fear is also a good defense against unknowingly receiving a counterfeit.

I remember in the early 1990s writing stories about super fakes of $100 notes from North Korea.

For all I know, they have never given up the practice. Why should they if they are getting away with it?

The latest fakes have a series date of 2006.

The current $100 Federal Reserve Notes have a series date of 2013.

Check out this link to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for the recent history of the denomination.

The latest counterfeits were found in South Korea.

It took a bank’s currency experts to make the identification.

The gradual move to a cashless society gets accelerated every time there is an outbreak of fakes.

We can thank the vigilance of the Secret Service to keep internal American defenses up, but individual Americans can also help themselves. Stay vigilant.

As cash declines in use, everybody gets less and less able to identify counterfeits.

Here is the link to the story and photographs of the latest possible North Korean fake $100 handiwork.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog for the third time in 2017 . He is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

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