Error Note Just Discovered

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The note appears to be poorly cut.  The bottom cut is not straight and almost curvy, and the top appears to be cut at an angle (not parallel to the bottom).  The serial number is really fuzzy, like it was rubber stamped, compared to the ones on the bills in my wallet. 

And the complete lack of raised dots...I don't know, I'm 50/50 as to whether this note is genuine or not.

Is the security thread looks normal when viewed face-on?  And when you look through with a light behind, what you see?  On an authentic note, you must see the inscriptions "CAN 20" alternatively up and down along the strip.  If you see a completely opaque thread, it's a phony bill.

The watermarks are quite difficult to imitate and on most faked notes (if not all), there is no watermark.  And I cannot judge the quality of the cut because the scan doesn't show this part completely.

Don't forget that the raised dots are not by themselves a security feature, so their presence or absence cannot be taken as a proof of authenticity.

Hello Canada.  Why was a portion of the front of the note blacked out?   I know in my opinion, the blacking out of any of this note make the error's authenticity seem sketchy.  What does keeping three digits secret accomplish?

I examined the note under the sunlight this morning to verify it's legitimacy and this is what I observed:

1. I was able this morning to pull a small neon
security thread off the surface like a real
bill.

2. The font of the serial number appears find to me in both size and type.

3. Neon yellow threads are present all over the note.

4. Both holograms on the notes are flawless.  The hologram thread is weaved flawlessly across the note.

5. All fonts on the notes are flawless and extremely
sharp just like a real note even under a magnifying glass.
Completely unremarkable.

6. Ink colours are perfectly match right across the
note.  No discrepency what-so-ever relative to other $20 bills in my wallet.

7. The watermark of the queen is flawless in the light
as is the '20' watermark.

8. The sheen and feel of the note is unremarkable. 

9. On the back of the note, I am able to see the
perimeter impression of the large 20 that gets struck
on the front like a real note.

The only interesting feature that's missing is the 6 dots for the blind placed in the upper left hand corner. They are completely missing. 

If anyone has further questions/information, please let me know.  I will take it to a black light machine as soon as I can and I'll let everyone know the verdict.

Wow, Canada, are you a coroner?  That sounds a lot like an autopsy report LOL!    Another way to tell if a Journey series note is genuine is by looking at certain parts of the back of the notes under high magnification.  The denomination will be indicated in microprinting, as shown in the attached image (see the number "20" repeated in the purple area at the top right-hand side of the scan?).

I have no problems accepting that the note is genuine.  I am not certain if the serial number error is genuine.  But if the serial number is fake, how was it accomplished on a genuine note?  A note completely missing the serial number would be worth more as an error note, so why would someone take the trouble to add a serial number after issue - misplaced serial numbers are not worth as much... 

venga50,

I have a high res image of the note, and I can assure you that the purple 20 are there. The detail in the image I received is outstanding and identical to 20’s I have, with the fine print & visable security features in the scan. Without seeing this note in person, all I can do is scratch my head.

The note appears to be poorly cut.  The bottom cut is not straight and almost curvy, and the top appears to be cut at an angle (not parallel to the bottom).  The serial number is really fuzzy, like it was rubber stamped, compared to the ones on the bills in my wallet. 

And the complete lack of raised dots...I don't know, I'm 50/50 as to whether this note is genuine or not.

The back of the note was cut off in the scanning process by me by accident.  I can rescan it and post it if you would like.

A scan of the full back would be great.

Some new observations that I didn't include that leads me to believe the note is genuine is the ink and note characteristic.  If you run your finger across the note it does feel like a real note.  All the ink is raised in the right places.

If you shine bright light through all 20's, they seem to have 4 rectangles which appear lighter in the area of the security string.  This "error note" also has the same rectangles.  I'm actually convinced now (in addition to everything else observed) that the note is genuine.

I do agree with everyone that the serial (although the right font) appears fake but we must take into consideration that the number was smeared so that maybe one factor as to why it looks that way.  I'm going to withdraw more 20's tomorrow and try to compare them one more time.

My theory (assuming it's genuine) is that maybe when they printed the serial on this note, the worker forgot to change the serial number from lets say a batch of $10 or $5 dollar bills being printed just before this batch of $20's.  Would this be a possible explanation?

I cannot take the "Z" for a sidewise "N", because of the style (the "N" is narrow and if you look at it sidewise, it will appear as a slightly squashed "Z").  And if I suppose that the "N" is the denomination letter, it belongs to the 5$ notes, not to the 20$.  Strange enough that the printer letter does not appear...

If it's a legitimate error, it a very special one: wrong denomination letter, missing letter, misplaced serial, ink smear in the serial  (both sides).  I cannot exclude the possibility that it's a special case of mismatch prefix in which the denomination letter wheel has stepped two letters ahead (passsing from "L" to "N") before printing, and (why not) all the others wheels by 2 steps also.  So the "original" prefix should have been *LB.  If so, its a major misshaps by the quality control to let this error escape out.  What are the position numbers? if they are under 55, this note is printed by CBN, so the complete prefix  should have been ELB...

This error reminds me the mismatch serial number in the famous 10$  FDT****** , with the blackened squares in the serial...

Just to let you know, the first 2 numbers of the note are less than 55 if that helps in any way.

A scan of the full back would be great.

Again if anyone wants a high definition emailed (because image shack hosting won't accept large file sizes) i can email it.

Is the security thread looks normal when viewed face-on?  And when you look through with a light behind, what you see?  On an authentic note, you must see the inscriptions "CAN 20" alternatively up and down along the strip.  If you see a completely opaque thread, it's a phony bill.

The watermarks are quite difficult to imitate and on most faked notes (if not all), there is no watermark.  And I cannot judge the quality of the cut because the scan doesn't show this part completely.

Don't forget that the raised dots are not by themselves a security feature, so their presence or absence cannot be taken as a proof of authenticity.

Yes one can see the CAN20 (visible in scan posted as well) in the security thread.  I'm at the point where I've convinced myself that the note is genuine.  I put it under so much scrutiny that if it's a fake, it's one h*ll of a fake and the printing company has a problem on their hands.  I just don't think that those who would fake such notes would screw up on just the serial number and get everything else perfect in my honest opinion.

My theory is that the prefix of this serial number was never changed after printing a batch of notes of another denomination.....or like one member said, the machine accidently skipped two letters  I don't know what to say or think right now.

Who else can we ask???

Wow, Canada, are you a coroner?  That sounds a lot like an autopsy report LOL!    Another way to tell if a Journey series note is genuine is by looking at certain parts of the back of the notes under high magnification.  The denomination will be indicated in microprinting, as shown in the attached image (see the number "20" repeated in the purple area at the top right-hand side of the scan?).

I have no problems accepting that the note is genuine.  I am not certain if the serial number error is genuine.  But if the serial number is fake, how was it accomplished on a genuine note?  A note completely missing the serial number would be worth more as an error note, so why would someone take the trouble to add a serial number after issue - misplaced serial numbers are not worth as much... 

Lol @ coroner!  The 20's are perfectly visible where you've indicated.  I've actually spent so much time comparing other 20's to this 20 that i'm convinced the note itself is real.  I don't know what to say about the serial#...i'm very perplexed.  Several posters have mentioned good points.  I'm going to compare the serial # to the serials of other denominations just out of curiousity.  Maybe my theory ( mentioned above) is right?.?.?

If you are interested in a third-party opinion, I can PM you with my mailing address. Many people consider me to be a sharp eye when it comes to authentic vs. counterfeit. I can give you a number of references from this site and the Canadian Paper Money Society if required.

If you are interested in a third-party opinion, I can PM you with my mailing address. Many people consider me to be a sharp eye when it comes to authentic vs. counterfeit. I can give you a number of references from this site and the Canadian Paper Money Society if required.

Thank you.  I will take you up on that offer of references at some point just so that I can make it official that such a note does exist and it's real.  I currently live in the Ottawa area. 

In the mean time, if I have one, I'm sure there are more out there.  Everyone should keep an eye out for one.

we all got off topic here.  Any guesses as to how much its worth assuming it's real? Will it make me a millionaire?