By Brett Billings ’12

A counterfeit $20 bill was passed through Lower Farinon between 2 and 8 p.m. this past Wednesday. Supervisor Kelly Braun noticed the bill, which she compared to Monopoly money, when she reconciled the cash registers that night.

“I had no idea what to do,” Braun said. But she made a call to Public Safety and the counterfeit bill was promptly confiscated.

Braun noticed the brightness of the bill and its missing watermark. Most of all, the bill was about an eighth-inch shorter than a real $20 bill. “It was as plain as day, I thought,” she said.

Because of the time of day the bill was received, she speculates student traffic in Lower contributed to the overlook. Also, Lower has no specialized pens to detect counterfeit bills.

“Then it makes you wonder: Did the kid know?” Braun said.

Manufacturing or possession of counterfeit money with fraudulent intent is a federal crime punishable by fine or imprisonment up to 15 years, according to the Secret Service website. In 2010, a total of 3,028 domestic and foreign arrests were made for counterfeit money.

The website lists a number of ways to identify counterfeit money including: presidential portraits, Federal Reserve and Treasury seals, borders, serial numbers and paper stock.

As of deadline, Public Safety officers on duty Wednesday night were unwilling to comment on the incident, as it was still under investigation.