MARY REICHARD, HOST: Consider this a public service announcement.
Please do not launder or cook your money.
Someone in South Korea learned that the hard way. This person feared COVID-19 contamination, so he or she put a whole lot of cash in the washing machine.
Not a good idea. Only some of the clean—but now damaged—money could be exchanged for new bills. That out of about $20,000 total!
And someone else tried to disinfect his cash in the microwave. You can probably guess that result.
Consider yourself warned!
It’s The World and Everything in It.
No problem!!! Although burnt microwaved money is ruined, a counterfeiter can recirculate “washed” money. A common trick in forgery is to bleach smaller bills and reprinting them with artwork from larger bills. One of the most common is bleaching five dollar bills and printing a one hundred in its place. This makes the bill pass the feel and pen test but not the black light test. But, of course, how many people carry around a black light to use the ultraviolet technique to verify bills? Digital Money, although not fool proof yet, is probably the best. No touchy, no feelly, no worry about contamination from the corona virus!