2004 100$ Mismatched Serials - Letters and Numbers

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Hi, I came across an interesting 2004 100$ bill today at work and decided to trade for it.

I’m more of a coin and bullion collector and am not very well versed in error notes. I’d love some advice on whether this is an error note anyone may have heard of or what it might be worth if it is indeed an error.

The serial on the left if    BHL 5493457
The serial on the right is  BVL 5490457

It’s in very good condition as far as I can tell.

I’ve seen other errors online where the digits don’t match, but haven’t heard of the letters not matching.

Any info would be appreciated, thanks!

Something is really wrong with those serial numbers. Neither BHL nor BVL would be legitimate $100 prefixes. BJL would be, but that was a prefix on the 1988 $100. It's hard to imagine how the prefix could get so messed up, on both sides of the note.

Does the rest of the note look genuine?

Here are some quick photos of the notes. I’ll take some better detailed scans this evening. It seems very genuine when I compared it to some other 100’s I have on hand that I know are legit.

Neither BHL nor BVL would be legitimate $100 prefixes.

- Yes the incorrect serial number prefixes are the first red flag although the font is pretty legit for a likely "fake" $100. 

From just a casual glance- the BPN is blurred (as are other micro-printing features which do not hold up to scrutiny), the security strip looks incomplete (partly fabricated) & the partially printed "100" (portions of which are printed on each side of the note) looks misaligned.   These are all serious telltale security features that seem to be missing on the pics supplied (just for starters).   I saw several notes like these when I was working in Vancouver.

I would be very surprised if this note has a watermark (of Borden's face) when held up to the light. The paper is likely a little too thick & the ultimate test would be to hold the note up to UV light and see if any fibres glow (which I doubt will happen).

Here are some quick photos of the notes. I’ll take some better detailed scans this evening. It seems very genuine when I compared it to some other 100’s I have on hand that I know are legit.

The security thread does not look right at all. You can see parts of the design through it. It looks like it was printed on the note. If the note is held to light, does the thread appear without gaps?

From the pictures it looks like a good fake but definitely a fake.  Without checking the UV and the watermark. 

The microprint on the front under the large of Bank of Canada should not be smugged.  The security strip on the back CAN 100 is applied onto the surface of the paper and does not go through it.  Hold it up to a light source and you will see it is not continuous. 

Intaglio raised print on the Large Bank of Canada has been faked by pressing the bottomside with a metal plate with the words imprinted on it.

The biggest sign as some others have pointed out is the security thread. The security thread is applied on the substrate and therefore when the image is printed it appears on the security thread. Here the Security thread has see through effect.

The hologram is also missing some detail.

I would say this has a lot of features that would make it not so genuine.

- Yes the incorrect serial number prefixes are the first red flag although the font is pretty legit for a likely "fake" $100. 

From just a casual glance- the BPN is blurred (as are other micro-printing features which do not hold up to scrutiny), the security strip looks incomplete (partly fabricated) & the partially printed "100" (portions of which are printed on each side of the note) looks misaligned.   These are all serious telltale security features that seem to be missing on the pics supplied (just for starters).   I saw several notes like these when I was working in Vancouver.

I would be very surprised if this note has a watermark (of Borden's face) when held up to the light. The paper is likely a little too thick & the ultimate test would be to hold the note up to UV light and see if any fibres glow (which I doubt will happen).

Thank you walktothewater as well as everyone else who provided info. Wow, this is certainly a wakeup call that I need to brush up on the security features for paper bills. The bill did have a “watermark” of Bordens’ face when held to the light but was not nearly detailed enough to be genuine. It appeared to be a bit of glossy material added on one side that could be seen on closer inspection that created the borden fake “watermark”. I don’t have a UV light but they did an ok job of making it appear to have the fibres in the bill when held to a regular light. The real kicker was the security strip which was indeed printed on and not woven in to the bill. I certainly feel like a doofus for not seeing that right away.

Anyway, thanks all for the info. Guess I’ll have to chalk the loss up to a 100$ learning experience. Is there a way for me to remove the photos? I gather from the counterfeit forum, it’s not advisable to have them posted on here?

Wow, this is certainly a wakeup call that I need to brush up on the security features for paper bills.

Guess I’ll have to chalk the loss up to a 100$ learning experience.

Try not to be too hard on yourself.  I could tell you of some of my very expensive "wake-up calls" when I first started to collect paper money.  Learning how to properly grade a note is probably every collector's harshest "learning curve."  I believe this is essentially as a result of our lack of exposure to excellent uncirculated notes and one's deep wish that the note in possession (or about to be purchased) is in fact in better shape than it actually is (we all love a "deal").

Some of us here still actually trust the 3rd party grader (& the assigned grade on the note holder) rather than taking the time to inspect the note in as thoroughly critical light as possible.  The situation is changing: since many dealers (or collectors operating as "dealers") have had their rarer stock sitting online marked up much higher than book value in US dollars (graded by a popular US grader) and have been waiting (months to a year) for new collectors to hit the "Buy it Now" option.  I believe collectors are getting wise because of sites like this one and because all you have to do is go through a "Wake up call" of buying a note at what you believe is a much higher grade- then take it to "show & tell" amongst other veteran collectors who could easily dispute the assigned grade (changing the value of the note considerably).  Its a hard lesson to swallow.

If I were to start collecting coins I would probably go through many similar hard lessons in my purchases since I'm not well versed in coin collecting (esp if I were to buy "raw" notes with little info at my fingertips). 

The best way to protect yourself from that (if you are still interested in collecting Cdn paper money) is:
a) avoid "error" notes & especially notes in higher denominations (fewer collectors are interested in higher denominations of the more recent series anyways)
b) educate yourself by examining regular older (Journey or Bird) notes you can get at face value to see for yourself what the security features are
c) take a look at the Charlton Standard Catalogue "Canadian Government Paper Money" which most libraries carry.  If you cannot find a copy at your local library than you could buy a cheaper (older) edition online or the 2017 29th edition at Chapters/Indigo (& online).  The catalogue is a wealth of info that can help guide you in terms of what to collect as well.