Canada polymer $100 banknote hands-on look finally!

[zvaios]

Thanks for posting this video, I had been searching around online for images of the new $100 bill and this is the best. I thought I had counterfeit bills because I could not see the "hidden numbers". I have since found them using the LED trick. But I also thought my bills were fake because the transparent circle is off center adn the brail dots location is are slightly different from the photos I have seen online. Furthermore some of the print position is different between the bills

[KemptonLam]

@zvaios Thanks for your kind words and leaving a comment to share your own experiences with the new $100.

[MorreskiBear]

Got one of these new $100's. Real difficult to forge, but why did they remove the simple watermark? It was something I could casually check in front of a customer WITHOUT having to break out the forensic kit. Maybe these bills will grow on me (like toonies) but at the moment, I ain't liking 'em. Can't see the hidden text either. These bills have the potential to include security features old and new. Imagine having holographic text that duplicated the bill's unique serial number? Fake that!

[KemptonLam]

@MorreskiBear I don't know for sure but may be it is difficult to make a watermark on a polymer note?

[KemptonLam]

I mean, if the hidden 100s won't be used widely, it probably have limited value. But of course, may be it was designed to be checked by machines? Or an additional counter-measure to "really" professional counterfeiter (on the scale of a foreign government). Anyway, I am not a big fan of the hidden 100s in the maple leaf for sure.

[JoeDaws0n]

OK I have it working now! DUH! Go into a dark area with a small light. Don't look for the number on the bill itself... Focus your eyes on the light source itself in the distance. Around the outside edge of the glow of the light you will see the numbers $100. My problem was I was focusing my eyes on the bill it self and not on the light source in the distance.

[KemptonLam]

@JoeDaws0n Thanks for the tips. I put myself in the closet and tried it with a flashlight but still no luck. I give up! Fortunately, the rest of the security features are easy to use. You see, I wrote a technical article in March 2011 "Secrets of Bank of Canada’s new plastic money: An advance look of 12 possible security features" speculating about how BoC will use Securency International's Guardian. Well, I was wrong to think more sec features are always better. I question the hidden 100s now.

[JoeDaws0n]

I have lots of leds but i can't get it to work yet.

[KemptonLam]

@JoeDaws0n Thanks for sharing your experience trying to see the hidden 100 with LED lights! I hate to predict things this early, but I can't imagine the security feature of hidden 100 be used widely by cashiers!

[KemptonLam]

So far still no luck. Don't have LED light so I can't test it.

[stevenburgoyne]

I can see the numbers, took me a bit to figure it out. Has to be a very small light source (not a fluorescent light bulb or light bulb in general) but a small light source like an LED (if up close) or a bright light that you look at from across the room (depending on the light bulb it will work). You will see the 100 around the source.