WILLEMSTAD/PHILIPSBURG--The Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS) has once again received various counterfeit NAf. 100 banknotes via some commercial banks, as well as a couple of counterfeit NAf. 5 coins. This time, the counterfeit banknotes are of very high quality and difficult to distinguish from genuine banknotes. This also applies to the counterfeit coins.
The counterfeit banknotes that were submitted to CBCS have the following features:
The watermark, which normally should be seen when held up against the light, is now directly visible on the banknote.
The signatures on the banknotes are faint and can easily be removed with a little water.
The banknotes are most probably photo-copies of genuine banknotes, however, they are not accurately cut out. Consequently, the notes have a white border to the bottom.
The words “auteursrecht bank van de Nederlandse Antillen” at the right end on the reverse of the banknotes are not clearly legible. The words “auteursrecht” and “bank” are incomplete, they lack a few characters.
The banknotes have the following serial numbers: 8255939013, 8255959785, 8255401400 and 8253551472.
The counterfeit NAf. 5 coins have as issue year 1998 or 1999 and are just a bit smaller or larger than a genuine five-guilder coin. The difference in size is not directly noticeable. One of the security features of a genuine five-guilder coin is the magnetic feature, which means that the coin sticks to a magnet. The counterfeit coins do not have this feature and hence do not stick to a magnet. Also, when you drop a counterfeit coin it makes a different sound than when dropping a genuine coin. The latter makes a heavier sound.
CBCS has been informed by different commercial banks that they have received counterfeit banknotes of the denominations NAf. 25 and NAf. 50 as well, which they have submitted to the local police. CBCS closely cooperates with the police in this matter.
CBCS wants to alert the public to pay attention when accepting banknotes of any denomination. If you find yourself in a situation where you doubt the authenticity of a banknote, we strongly advise you not to accept the suspect banknote.
You are reminded that it is illegal for any person and or institution to accept counterfeit banknotes. You are advised to immediately contact the police if you think you are dealing with a counterfeit banknote. The counterfeiting of banknotes and the fraudulent use of counterfeit means of payment are punishable by imprisonment of up to nine years.
For more information about security features of banknotes, visit
http://www.centralbank.cw/banknote .
