Central Bank warning over counterfeit currency
The Central Bank of Malta wishes to advise the general public to be aware of counterfeit money which might be in circulation. Some cases are already being investigated by the police.
The presence from time to time of a limited quantity of counterfeit banknotes is normal in all countries throughout the world, more so during the festive season when currency in circulation is on the increase.
Whenever the need arises, the Central Bank of Malta always advises the public about how to identify genuine banknotes so as to be protected from counterfeiters. For this purpose, the bank has issued a poster highlighting the security features on genuine banknotes. This poster has been distributed to all banks.
The counterfeit notes that have been referred to the Central Bank of Malta belong to the last series and have several security features missing. The watermark and the security thread are two of the features that are lacking. The quality of the paper and ink used are of inferior quality when compared to the original banknote. Differences can be easily identified when counterfeit notes are compared to genuine banknotes.
The features listed below are present on all genuine banknotes of the last series.
The watermark. This is a three dimensional image of an allegorical head found on the left hand side of the note which is easily recognisable from its sharpness and positive image when viewed against the light.
Genuine notes have a windowed metallic security thread which runs from top to bottom on the right hand side of the note. This appears as a series of silver dashes on the front of the note, but this is seen as a continuous line when viewed against the light.
On the back of the Lm10 and Lm20 notes, on the lower right hand side the denomination is printed in optical variable ink. This type of ink causes colour shifts when viewed from different angles. The colour shifts for the Lm10 from green to blue and for the Lm20 is gold and green.
On genuine banknotes, on the front, bottom and left-hand corner, the letters BCM (which is referred to as the latent image) becomes visible when viewed obliquely.
Genuine banknotes have see-through features which match perfectly front and back when held against the light. When the banknote is held up against the light, the design printed on the back fits exactly within the unprinted area on the front.
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