From: dwa@mirage.svl.trw.com (Dana Albrecht)
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 94 11:26:08 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Cash
Message-ID: <9411181925.AA26548@mirage.svl.trw.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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From alt.2600...

In article 8imYglW00iV8M5q0dV@andrew.cmu.edu, Andrew Lewis Tepper <at15+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
> Imbedded in 1991 series $20 bills (and I assume all later and higher
> bills) are thin plastic(?) strips with metallic writing on them. If
> you're careful you can remove them with a razorblade by slitting the
> bill's top edge and gently pulling it out. I've heard that airports will
> soon have "Money Detectors" that will count total cash carried per
> person. I'd like to figure out how the system works. I also think it
> would be cool for people to collect all the strips in any money they
> ever came in contact with and keep those in their wallets. Soon it would
> look like everyone was walking around with $100K's of cash, rendering
> their system useless.
> 
> Andy
> 

In article oh9@crl2.crl.com, eric@crl.com (Eric Fredricksen) writes:
> Anarch (anarch@cse.ucsc.edu) wrote:
> : They're in tens, too (don't know about ones and fives).  I've never been
> : able to remove one completely, but I've exposed the ends.  Do you know
> : how many there are in each bill, and where?  I know in tens there's at
> : least one, about a fifth of the way in from the left side (looking at
> : the front).
> 
> They're easy to remove.  Just rip the bill diagonally from the edge to 
> the strip on either side of it, and pull the little triangle you just 
> made.  The strip comes with it. Show it to your friends.
> 

Assuming this is true, it would seem that even good, old fashioned,
paper currency doesn't provide the level of anonymity that one
would think.  Scary...

Dana W. Albrecht
dwa@mirage.svl.trw.com