Counterfeit Reporting

The Currency Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network receives and examines every note and coin suspected of being counterfeit, and publishes the security features by which a genuine note is known. Counterfeiting in the Network is rare: fourteen counterfeit notes were detected among the 4.19 million notes of the Interim Issue in circulation during the transition period, and no counterfeit coin has been detected. The Office nevertheless asks everyone who handles cash to check notes and to report any they doubt.

14

Counterfeit notes detected during the transition period, 10 August to 5 September 2026

3.3

Counterfeit notes detected per million notes in circulation

0

Counterfeit coins detected in the Network to date

10

Working days within which the Office issues its determination on a surrendered item

Checking a suspect note. A genuine note carries every one of the security features published on the Banknotes page; a note lacking any one of them should be treated as suspect. The four checks below need no equipment and take a few seconds. Interim notes carry fewer features than First Series notes and should be checked with particular care.

1. 1

   Step 1: Feel the note

   Genuine paper is crisp and slightly rough, not waxy or limp. On a First Series note the lettering along the top edge and the tactile bars at the short edges are raised and can be felt with a fingertip. A note that feels smooth all over is suspect.

2. 2

   Step 2: Look at the note against the light

   The watermark should appear with soft edges and gradations of tone, the security thread as a continuous dark line carrying the denomination, and the two parts of the see-through register should join to form the complete numeral.

3. 3

   Step 3: Tilt the note

   The denomination numeral at the lower right of a First Series note changes from gold to green. A numeral that stays one colour, or that merely glitters, is suspect.

4. 4

   Step 4: Compare with a note you trust

   Where doubt remains, place the note beside another of the same denomination and issue. Differences in size, colour, sharpness of print or the position of the serial numbers indicate a counterfeit. Genuine notes of the same denomination are identical except in serial number.

Reporting a suspected counterfeit. The procedure below applies to notes and coins of either issue and to reports from members of the public, from businesses and from the cash offices of member organisations alike.

1. 1

   Step 1: Retain the note or coin

   Do not return a suspect item to the person who tendered it and do not pass it on in payment. Knowingly passing a counterfeit is an offence. Handle the item as little as possible and keep it apart from other currency, in an envelope if one is available.

2. 2

   Step 2: Record the circumstances

   Note the date, time and place at which the item was received, what it was tendered for, and, where known, a description of the person who tendered it. Record the serial number of any note.

3. 3

   Step 3: Report to the Office by email

   Write to the Office's email address with the subject line "Suspected counterfeit", giving the denomination, the issue (Interim or First Series), the serial number and the circumstances recorded. Attach a photograph of both sides of the item if you are able to.

4. 4

   Step 4: Receive a reference number

   The Office confirms every report by email with a reference number and instructions for surrendering the item for examination. Quote the reference number in all further correspondence.

5. 5

   Step 5: Surrender the item

   Surrender the item as instructed. Each item surrendered is given a receipt recording the denomination, the serial number and the reference number of the report.

6. 6

   Step 6: Receive the determination

   The Office examines every item surrendered and issues its determination by email within ten working days. A genuine item is returned to the person who surrendered it. A counterfeit is retained by the Office.

After examination. The Office's determination is final as to whether an item is genuine. What follows a determination is set out below.

Genuine items

Returned to the person who surrendered them, together with the determination. The Office bears the cost of return. Where a genuine note has been damaged in the course of checking it, it is exchanged at face value.

Counterfeit items

Retained by the Office and recorded in its register of detections. No reimbursement is made for a counterfeit note or coin: it has no value, and to reimburse it would reward its circulation. The Office refers the circumstances of each detection to the appropriate authorities of the Network.

Businesses and cash offices

Member organisations, retailers and any person handling cash in the course of business are asked to report every suspect item, to keep the item apart from other takings and to record who tendered it. The Office supplies guidance for staff who handle cash on request.

Publication

The Office publishes counterfeit detection figures quarterly alongside its statistics on currency in circulation, by denomination and issue. Individual reports are not published and the identity of a person who makes a report is not disclosed.

Detections during the transition period. All fourteen counterfeits detected between 10 August and 5 September 2026 were imitations of the two highest denominations of the Interim Issue. Eleven were of one design and were tendered at three sites within a period of nine days; the Office regards them as a single episode. The rate of detection per million notes in circulation is the measure the Office will use in its quarterly reporting.

The concentration of detections in the 20 and 50 credit notes is the reason those denominations are the first of the Interim Issue to be replaced after the 5 and 10 credit notes, on 2 November 2026. Detection figures will be published quarterly on the Notes and Coins in Circulation page.

Reports and enquiries may be sent to contact@currency.gov.vin. For the security features of coins, see Coins; for answers to common questions, see the frequently asked questions.