Using fake naira notes for buying and selling in Nigeria is no longer news. Every day, buyers and sellers complain of discovering the notes with which they were paid are fake or counter.
These differences are not hidden; they are there only if you look well enough, even for an untrained eye.
You should also avail yourself of the fact that the use of counterfeits is punishable under the Nigerian constitution whether you’re aware or not because “ignorance is not an excuse in the court of law.”
Here are the five most effective ways to identify fake naira notes:
1. Go for the thread
Each naira note has this slim like strip that runs from the top to the base. What you would only see is a lookalike but not the real thing.
2. Make use of water or liquid like petrol
To know a counter, which is a decorated currency, immerse in water and wash gently against your palm, you will see the colors and watermark wash off. However, the real note won’t look like this when immersed in water or any liquid.
3. Use mercury bulbs
Through this way, naira notes can easily be recognized, some features of the naira notes cannot be seen with naked eyes. These features are only in original naira notes and one cannot see them except with the help of mercury bulbs. Get the naira note in question under a working mercury bulb. On a genuine ₦1000 note, you will see “₦1000” written across it in a neon yellow hue. The bulbs would catch any features the human eyes may not see.
4. Check the gold foil
The N1000 note has a gold foil on the right side beside the CBN governor’s signature. You should have it in mind that if you peel the foil of a fake note it will peel.
So if the above number two option is too hard for you and you are holding a N1,000 note, you should try to peel off the foil. If it does peel, that means it is fake.
5. Paper and colour quality
While counterfeits are made of ordinary papers, real money is made of an exceptional sort of paper. Feeling the paper-quality of counterfeits, you’ll find out that it’s just an ordinary paper. The colours of counterfeits also betray it. The drawings on counterfeits are more blurry, blotchy and sometimes darker than real paper money