Less counterfeit money reported in first half of 2017
In the first half of 2017 a total of 247 counterfeit euro bills were reported, which is 10 percent less than a year ago. Compared to the second half of last year, the amount of forged bills discovered remained the same, the Bank of Estonia said on Friday.
The most common forged bank bill encountered by the authorities is the 50-euro bill, arguably accounting for up to 76 percent of all forged money in circulation in Estonia.
Across all of Europe, the 50 and 20-euro bills make up 85 percent of all forged bills reported, more or less a stable share over the last years.
Taking into account all the euro bills in circulation, the amount of forgeries is small in Estonia as well as in the rest of the eurozone.
The number of forgeries discovered in the first half of 2017 is some 10 percent below the number of the same period in 2016. The Bank of Estonia points out that it is easy to tell the real thing from the forgery simply by looking at the appropriate markings—you can read more about how to identify a real euro bill here.
Whoever comes across a forged bill or coin is asked to turn to the police, who will have experts examine it.
Editor: Dario Cavegn