How come when you pay with a $50, the cashier sometimes writes something on it with a pen?

Question

What are they writing on it?

Answer 1

They just make any mark, the point of the pen is that the ink will supposedly turn a really dark brown or black color if the bill is fake.
If the bill is legit, it will be a more yellowish brown color due to the type of paper used to make money.
All they need to make is a short line, but some store managers ask their cashiers to initial the bill so they can more easily track down errors when they count the drawer down later.

Answer 2

The pen is basically a litmus test. It tests the chemical in the paper. If it changes color, it lets the cashier know the paper is not legitmate Federal reserve parer. Prior to the new $50, forgery was really high. Most common was for people to use high end color printers, runinng bills through it several times to create the correct texture. The one thing no one can copy is the paper, made by only one manufacture. Now the most common forgery is to "wash" a $1 then print onto it older prints of the 50 or 100.

Be careful, if ever you are the last one holding a forged bill. You loose! The bill has to be turned over the Federal Reserve, Fraud division.

Answer 3

They don't write anything on it with 50's, 100 and some stores even 20 dollar bills they use a little pen.. if the mark turns black that means its fake and they wont accept it..

Answer 4

It is to check to see if it is counterfeit. Although, I'm a retail manager and twice now, I've had a hundred dollar bill pass the pen test and still turn out counterfeit. There is a way to take a single dollar and somehow bleach it. Then they print it as a hundred, so the material is not counterfeit, just the writing. Damn smart criminals!

Answer 5

They are checking to see if it is real. The pen will write a tannish colored line if the bill is real, if it is a fake, it will turn black.
Most cashiers are told to mark anything over a $20.

Answer 6

they aren't writing anything....they are using a specialy marker that tests the paper for the proper chemicals used in minting bills.

Some of those crazy people like to print their own money fraudulently and then take their bills into the stores and cash it, useing a fake bill and getting real cash back. Imagine that, damn theives.

Answer 7

The pen will make a dark mark if the bill is counterfeit. It the bill is real, no mark is seen.

Answer 8

To check if it is counterfeit. The mark shows differently on fake paper money and real currency (not actually paper at all).

Answer 9

It is to see if it is real or not. Had to do this working.
Someone may try to give youa fake bill, and if it is fake it turns a certain color. If it is real, i believe it is yellow (at least the one I used).

Answer 10

dont freak out its just a black pen. real money will show a different color if its fake it will show black.