Bank notes

• Counterfeiting: A Canadian Perspective

  Staff Working Paper 2004-33 John Chant

  Counterfeiting is a significant public policy issue, because paper money, despite rumours of its demise, remains an important part of our payments system.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes JEL Code(s): E, E5, E58
• August 21, 2004

  The Canadian Experience with Counterfeiting

  Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2004 John Chant

  Counterfeiting poses a significant public policy issue because of the important role that paper money plays in Canada's payments system. Yet the threat of counterfeiting in all economies has increased markedly in the past decade as a result of technological advances to photocopiers and computer printers. An appropriate public policy response is thus necessary to maintain the public's continued confidence in the national currency. To assess the threat from counterfeiting, including possible loss of confidence in the currency, estimating the stock of counterfeits circulating is necessary. In this article, Chant proposes a composite method of detecting counterfeits as an effective alternative to existing methods and offers estimates of the extent of counterfeiting Canadian currency for 2001. An Addendum to the article summarizes Chant's methods and updates the calculations to 2003.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Bank notes