Yesterday I took the $100 bill I found on the street to a bank. The tellers gave it a close inspection and said that it was fake. So I took it to a second bank. The teller there reached the same conclusion. From where I stand it was a pretty good fake printed on paper that seemed legit.
I asked the teller what to do with the fake bill and she said to google the U. S. Treasury Department. I already knew from a rather crazy incident in my grad school days that the Secret Service is the branch of government that deals with counterfeiting. I found the number for the nearest Secret Service office in my state and called them. They told me to turn the bill over to a bank and have the bank call them.
It’s a bit troubling that the person I talked at the Secret Service didn’t seem overly alarmed by the fact that I had found a counterfeit $100 bill. And there was no urgency to her instruction to take it to a bank. It’s also a bit troubling that neither bank knew that they were suppose to confiscate the bill and send it to the Secret Service.
I’m going to the bank tomorrow to turn over the bill. We’ll see what happens. There’s still the remote chance that it is a legitimate bill that was damaged by being out on the road.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
My mother was once given a fake $100 by a bank when cashing a check, went next door to the grocery store to spend it, and had the police called for presenting a fake bill. Turns out they had given her 5 fake $100s! It took much handwringing and watching of cctv before the bank admitted it was their fault and replaced the money
If you’re interested in knowing more about counterfeit money and how the hundred dollar bill got so popular outside the US, the book “Naked Money: A Revealing Look at What It Is and Why It Matters” by Charles Wheelan might be of interest to you. Cool it turned out to be movie money, even though it was probably overall disappointing.