Can you scan a banknote?

No problems here

The Daily Telegraph says it can’t be done! (Why can’t I scan a banknote?)

The article tells us that the banknotes include secret patterns of dots which when identified by copying equipment somehow initiate a built in ‘anti forgery application’ and prevents us from doing so.

As you can see, I had no problem, perhaps because I have a (very) old HP 1210 ‘all in one’. Don’t know why it says all in one, it can print, copy and scan but can’t fax! I would have thought an ‘all in one’ would ‘do-it-all.’

So, my question is are the DT telling porkies? Can you copy / scan a bank note?

Does your printer / scanner give you an error message?

After my little experiment I find the whole thing hard to believe, what do you think?

37 thoughts on “Can you scan a banknote?”

  2. Maybe what the telegraph means is that the “secret” invisible ultraviolet ink becomes activated by strong light and alters the pattern of the dots (colors)

  3. Howzit Donald, not at all, they reckon they get an error message, if you have a look at the article and the comments some users also get error messages, one even tells us that once he scanned a note successfully Adobe wouldn’t let him open the file!

  4. Soutie – What they are saying is a load of croc , I have two HP 1315 and a C4180 and they have no difficulty in scanning anything, including Aussie money which uses exactly the same method of manufacture as most of the world, in fact .. plastic money is an Aussie invention (I believe .. pretty sure)

    Most likely they are trying to convince people that it can’t be done or something

  5. Well that’s what I thought until I saw this comment on the DT article…

    “Just tried scanning a £10 with the CanonScan 9000F, and it failed, citing error code 5,205,154. Tried the reverse, and it still failed.

    Be interesting to see if any here with perhaps a newer device than mine has a similar story!

  6. So … those of us who kept our older printers are in with a chance?

    Now … where can I get some plastic, some off white paint for the base colour and a couple of …… 🙂

  9. Val that’s remarkable, thank you and what an interesting link you provided.

    Just for info, when I clicked on Africa not a single mainland country came up.

    I’m still laughing 🙂

    🙂

  10. I’ve just experimented with a Canon 5600F – which I bought at Christmas. On a £20 note I get a message saying that it cannot scan because “The original may not be placed properly”. Yet it is clearly scanning the note since it produces an image before throwing up that error message – the image then disappears.

    No problems scanning a $50 Australian note – so I tried to ‘fool’ the machine by scanning both together – flipped out on me again!

  11. How old is your £20 note, Soutie? They withdrew an older version last year – because they were too easy to copy.

  12. ricksrant :

    My new Canon says error code 5,205,154.

    Morning Rick, you got the same error as the DT member I referred to in my comment #5

    Thanks for confirming and contributing

  13. Val’s link gave me this for Australia

    “It is an offence under Australian law to make a reproduction of a banknote that is capable of misleading a person to believe it is a genuine currency banknote unless consent has been given by either the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) or the Commonwealth Treasury. Consent is not required for a reproduction that is not capable of misleading.”

    But they stuffed it with the last bit 🙂

    “Consent is not required for a reproduction that is not capable of misleading.””

    So as long as it doesn’t mislead anyone into believing that Santa Claus doesn’t exist ….. it’s Ok to print your own money?

  15. Boadicea :

    How old is your £20 note, Soutie? They withdrew an older version last year – because they were too easy to copy.

    I got that one (well a whole bunch of them actually) from a relative who was here a couple of years ago, according to the BOE website which Val’s link took me to it appears to be the latest with Adam Smith on the reverse.

    I think that the age of the scanner is key here!

  24. Scanned and copied a newish £10 note with no trouble. Printer is a newish HP F380 3 in 1.

  25. Brand new HP Photosmart Premium c310 Series 3 in 1

    No problem with anything I had to hand
    USD 20
    Sterling 20
    Canadian 20
    Singapore 50
    Korean Won 500
    HK 20
    Bahamas $1
    Malaysia 1 Ringgit (40 years old at least)
    Euro 100

    Machine has wireless connection so the feds. probably have been informed.

  26. It would appear that Canon can’t but HP can!

    Makes me wonder what other ‘big brother’ innovations IT manufacturers are (perhaps) being forced to implement.

    If they can do it with banknotes why not passports, car and other licenses, birth certificates, etc.
    😦

  27. My scanner/printer, is Epson, new last year, have just tried another, different £10, plus a £20, same error message, no can do.

  28. Soutie :

    It would appear that Canon can’t but HP can!

    Makes me wonder what other ‘big brother’ innovations IT manufacturers are (perhaps) being forced to implement.

    If they can do it with banknotes why not passports, car and other licenses, birth certificates, etc. :(

    I always carry a photocopy of my passport with me plus another copy left at home. It is a lot less hassle should you lose your real one.

    Latest copies were made on the same printer that I copied the tenner on.

  29. Here in Portugal it is still obligatory to carry ID at all times. I had a colour photocopy taken of the relevant page of my passport, reduced to credit card-size. It was notarised on the back by my lawyer and then laminated. No worries!

    OZ

  30. Back in Uruguay I was IDed, photographed, fingerprinted and given a serial number … at age 10

    Have refused to carry any form of ID ever since I came to Australia … nothing could be worse than when a government decides the word of a free man isn’t good enough and he has to prove himself to a copper 😦

  31. At the moment I am away from my scanner, I will still be in mainland China until Wednesday. I can try copying Hong Kong dollars, Macanese patacas, Chinese RMB, British Pounds, German marks (yes, I still have a number!), New Taiwan Dollars, Japanese Yen, and US dollars.

  32. Chris, it would appear that it’s only the newer currencies that have the recognition imprints (so I have no doubt that your DM will work successfully) and only certain makes of newer scanners that have the recognition software built in.

  33. Found this page while looking up the error my new Cannon gave me 5,205,155. Was trying to scan a thank you card that had a U.S. $10 in it. Took out the bill and it copied the card just fine. Ain’t that something?!?

  35. Υes it’s true. I also tried to scan a banknote of 50€ and the CANON MG2550s didn’t let me telling error code 5,205,155…..

  36. George, are you a mate of Soutie’s?

    This is a fascinating insight into the Chariot of 2011. So many familiar names – and 35 comments!

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