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How Money Works: Is your money fake?

Ever since there has been money, there have been forgers. With millions of fake notes and coins circulating in the UK, we take a look at how you can tell if the pound in your pocket is legit


Counterfeit money is an age-old problem.

In Britain the war against fake money was taken up in 1699 by none other than Sir Isaac Newton. As well as his theories on gravity, we can also thank this remarkable man for bringing us uniform weight and size in legal tender.

But over the years, forgers have become more sophisticated. The problem is nowhere near as bad as it has been – at one point in the 19th century, it’s estimated that a third of the United State’s money was fake –but there is still plenty of forged cash circulating in Britain today.

In fact, one in every 35 pound coins is a fake and 400,000 forged notes are doing the rounds.

But how can you weed out counterfeit money from the real thing? Watch this video to discover what to look out for.