How Does A Money Detector Work? – Simple Guide!

The struggle of sniffing fake currency out of the lots has been going on since the age of the Romans. 

Counterfeiting is huge problem businessmen face, ranging from owners of bars and restaurants to a common retailer. 

Even banks face counterfeit money, but it is entirely difficult to inspect the currencies by hand because of their large volume. And hence, there comes our solution, the money detectors. 

These devices are a boon to everyone, especially to the people engaged in business. But the question is, how does a money detector work? 

Advancements in technologies have brought us several kinds of money detectors. We will be discussing how some of the most popular money detectors work in this article.


How does a Money Detector Work & Types of It

To understand how a money detector works, it is quite necessary to understand the different kinds of best money detector machines. Since there is a wide range of counterfeit detectors in the market, these devices are used at different places. 

Various types of money detectors

For instance, banks prefer high-end devices like the Safescan 2600 series and so on to prevent large-scale fraud. Below in this article, we have provided in detail the different types of money detectors and how they work.

1. Magnetic Counterfeit Detectors

Magnetic Counterfeit Detectors

You may have received a tiny hint on how these money detectors work by the name of it. These days, anti-counterfeit measures are taken by banks to prevent them. 

The notes consist of metallic threads woven into them for detection. Another clever technique used by the banks is Ferromagnetic ink. 

How Magnetic Counterfeit Detectors Work?

The notes come with magnetic patterns on them in this measure, which is barely visible to our naked eyes. 

When banknotes have these magnetic materials on them, even a common metal detector can scan and discover the notes which do not have these Ferromagnetic ink or magnetic patterns

And hence, the fake notes are detected. Even though common metal detectors do the job, banks do use better and significantly advanced magnetic detectors. 
These devices may include Safescan 165, Safescan 185-S, 150, 2600 series, and more. These devices can scan specific magnetic patterns on notes which helps in the easy detection of fake ones.


2. UV Counterfeit Detectors

UV Counterfeit Detectors

The UV Counterfeit Detectors are the most reliable and sought-after devices to sniff fake notes out of real ones, be it in banks, pubs, restaurants, etc. 

Modern notes come with Ultraviolet or UV ink which has fluorescent phosphors that are not visible to human eyes. These UV ink on the notes are only visible under UV light with a wavelength of about 365 nanometres.

How do UV Counterfeit Detectors work?

The UV money detectors that have a wavelength of about 365 nanometres emit light that scans and verify whether the UV marks on the currencies exist or not. 

If they do not, they are certainly counterfeit currencies. One more thing that can be noted about the UV ink is that they are not visible in normal daylight. 

They can be seen only under UV detectors. Some of the manual UV detectors include the Safescan 50 and 60. 

Even the 2600 and 2200 series of the brand Safescan provide fine UV counterfeit detection.


3. Automatic Counterfeit Detectors

Automatic Counterfeit Detectors

Some of the texts or patterns printed on the notes are highly complex and intricate with colorful inks. 

Despite the intricate patterns on these notes, fraudulent notes somehow still manage to exist in the market. To solve that issue, technology has come up with more advanced counterfeit detectors. These devices can detect even the tiniest of deviations from the original pattern of the notes.

How Automatic Counterfeit Detectors Work?

The Safescan 185-S is one of those devices that help detect fake notes out of the lots by using spectrum analysis. 

These counterfeit detectors have spectrum sensors that compare the patterns on every note with the actual one and verifies their authenticity. 

These devices automatically detect errors in the currencies with complete accuracy and prevent counterfeit currencies in banks and businesses.


4. Infrared Detectors

Infrared Detectors


Another kind of money detector is the Infrared Currency Detectors. Banknotes are also printed with infrared inks that are, of course, invisible to naked eyes. 

The infrared inks are of two types: one that reflects the infrared light, while the other absorbs it and turns it into a black color. These Infrared Money detectors can easily identify those ink on the banknotes.

How Infrared Detectors Work?

These devices work by checking how the bank notes react or respond to the infrared frequencies. 

This can easily be done by using the earlier mentioned infrared absorbing or the infrared reflecting sensors. 

What happens is that when the bank notes are exposed to Infrared Light, the absorbing sensors of the IR ink on the notes turn black, which indicates the authenticity of the notes.


5. Multi-test Currency Scanners

Multi test Currency Scanners

The multi-test currency scanners are one of the most accurate money detector devices. They make use of multiple tests on the currency, and they also apply logical analysis to the results of those tests. 

Some of the devices to use the multi-test currency scanners can be the vending machine that accepts the notes and conducts some examinations.

How Multi-test Currency Scanners Work?

Those examinations may include image magnification, the UV or IR methods, and even reading the magnetic ink characters. 

Although these money detector devices can prove costlier, they do get counted in the best ones in terms of accuracy.


Now that we have come to the end of this article, we hope you have received the detailed process of how does a money detector works. 

Since there are numeral kinds of counterfeit currency detectors in the market to prevent fraud, each of their workings had to be different. 

Hence, along with their types, we have provided the workings of some of the most sought-after money detectors. We hope you found this article quite helpful. Please feel free to share our article with your friends and known ones.

Avatar for Jaren Helms

Jaren worked for over a decade in the industry as a Package Handler. He started his career with FedEx but he later also worked with companies like USPS and Deutsche Post.

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