Banks and Governments around the globe are constantly working to stop counterfeit money from entering circulation, with some nations proving far more effective at protecting their currencies than others.
The team at BestBrokers analysed the 39 most traded currencies by value as of 2022. They identified the most commonly used banknotes in each country for 2023 and ranked them based on the number of anti-counterfeiting features they have. The team also calculated the number of counterfeit notes per million real ones as well as the average cash value per person in each nation.
The findings reveal that while the US dollar is the most widely traded currency in the world, the top spot for the most secure banknote goes to Switzerland’s 100-franc note.
Introduced on 12 September 2019, as part of the Swiss franc’s ninth series, this banknote is nearly impossible to counterfeit, equipped with 18 state-of-the-art security features, including a hologram, security thread, hidden image, microprinting, colour-shifting ink, and UV-visible elements.
- The 100-franc Swiss banknote stands as the hardest note to counterfeit in the world, embedded with 18 advanced security elements.
- In second place is Indonesia’s 50,000 rupiah note, which has 17 anti-fraud features.
- Tied for third place are the 50 Euro note and the Australian 50-dollar bill, each boasting 16 complex security features. These include holograms, see-through registers, transparent windows, and anti-copy patterns, making them extremely difficult to replicate.
- Not all currencies offer the same level of protection, however, and some banknotes are more vulnerable to counterfeiting due to fewer security elements. Notable examples include the 2,000 Argentine pesos, 5 Bahraini dinars, 1,000 New Taiwan dollars, and 100 South African rands, each containing only nine security features.
- Intaglio (raised printing) is the most common security feature, appearing on all 78 of the highest-value and most frequently circulated banknotes we examined. It is closely followed by watermarks, found on 72 notes, tactile elements for the visually impaired on 71 notes, and microprinting on 69 notes.
- According to our estimates, the US dollar saw the highest number of counterfeit notes seized in 2023, with approximately 904,700 fake bills. The Euro ranks second with around 467,000 counterfeit notes, mostly € 20 and € 50 denominations.
- With 284,614 counterfeit peso notes reported in 2023 and nearly 9 billion banknotes in circulation, Mexico had the highest ratio of counterfeits per one million genuine notes, at 32. Meanwhile, South Korea had just 0.04 counterfeits per million banknotes.
