Man buys groceries with fake $200 bill

[Cain]

ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. -- Police are searching for a man who paid for $150 in groceries at a Food Lion grocery store with a $200 bill.

The man walked out of the store with his groceries and $50 in change before the fake bill was discovered Sept. 6.

The bogus bill -- the U.S. Mint does not print a $200 bill -- bore the image of President George W. Bush on the front and had the White House on the back. It also included signs on the front lawn of the front lawn of the White House with slogans such as "We like broccoli" and "USA deserves a tax cut," Roanoke Rapids police said.

Instead of being labeled a Federal Reserve note, the fake bill was marked as a "Moral Reserve Note." The bill bore the signatures of Ronald Reagan, political mentor, and George H.W. Bush, campaign adviser and mentor.

...

Food Lion officials at the company headquarters in Salisbury could only say their normal policy is not to accept bills over $100.

I wish I could say this is from the Onion. http://www.nbc17.com/news/2468409/detail.html

http://images.ibsys.com/2003/0910/2468406_200X150.jpg

This a symptom of a major problem in our great country.

[Jude]

Hahaha... I'm glad it's real. I'm sorry for the grocery store, but that's darn funny.

[Andonyx]

Originally posted by Cain




This a symptom of a major problem in our great country.

What....stupidity?

We had a great thread some time back about people who refused to take two dollar bills.

Morons.

[CFLarsen]

Where can I get one of those $200 bills? They will be worth more than $200, I tell ya! :D

[HarryKeogh]

Originally posted by Andonyx
We had a great thread some time back about people who refused to take two dollar bills.

as long as those three dollar bills stay away from me. i hear they're, y'know, queer.

not that there's anything wrong with it.

[Sundog]

Originally posted by HarryKeogh


as long as those three dollar bills stay away from me. i hear they're, y'know, queer.

not that there's anything wrong with it.

Reminds me of a great line from The Eiger Sanction, which I saw the other night:

"He looks like he could take a nine dollar bill and give you three threes in change."

[LTC8K6]

I don't think it's a symptom of anything. It just means food lion has at least one very stupid cashier.

Wait til' those monopoly twenties come out.

I can see the cashier saying they're fake already.......fun will abound!

[arcticpenguin]

Heh, heh. I feel sorry for the Food Lion, but other wise I got a big laugh out of this.
:D

[Brown]

From the article:Meanwhile, police in Roanoke Rapids arrested a man Tuesday who attempted to spend a $200 bill at a convenience store in August. Authorities say Michael Harris was jailed Tuesday night under $2,500 bond.

Investigators say Harris is not the same person who passed a similar fake bill at the Food Lion grocery store, but police believe the two cases are connected. (emphasis supplied)Wow, do you really think so?

[nemo]

Originally posted by Sundog


Reminds me of a great line from The Eiger Sanction, which I saw the other night:

"He looks like he could take a nine dollar bill and give you three threes in change."

Reminds me of an old joke. Man asks for change of an 18 dollar bill. Clerk asks how does he want it - 2 nines or 3 sixes?

[Skeptic]

Is this even a crime, technically speaking? Fraud doesn't become fraud until it would fool the average person.

It seems to me extremely unlikely that the man handed the cashier the $200 with intent to deceive. The bill is SO obviously a fake the customer must have given it to him as a joke, and was shocked that the cashier took it seriously.

As for the cashier being stupid, could be... or, perhaps, he was pissed at his employers and decided this is an opportunity to make them lose $200 while also making them a laughing stock. Maybe he decided to quit anyway, and wanted to go out with a bang.

[jimlintott]

Is this even a crime, technically speaking? Fraud doesn't become fraud until it would fool the average person.

I had the same thought. I suspect that it became a crime when he accepted the merchandise and the change.

Just my wild guess. Anyone really know?

[Ladewig]

Pease, please, please find me a quote where the cashier said, "well, the counterfeit detector pen said it was real."

[Ladewig]

The bill is SO obviously a fake...

Why would the average USAian consider this bill so obviously a fake? It is pretty obscure trivia to know that people must be dead for ten years before appearing on a U.S. stamp except for presidents who must be dead only one year (and that this law does not apply to currency which only requires dead people).

[Lord Kenneth]

Originally posted by Ladewig


Why would the average USAian consider this bill so obviously a fake? It is pretty obscure trivia to know that people must be dead for ten years before appearing on a U.S. stamp except for presidents who must be dead only one year (and that this law does not apply to currency which only requires dead people).

Well, considering the fact that George W. Bush is on a "$200" bill... the phrases "We like broccoli" and "USA deserves a tax cut"....

[Jon_in_london]

Originally posted by Ladewig


Why would the average USAian consider this bill so obviously a fake? It is pretty obscure trivia to know that people must be dead for ten years before appearing on a U.S. stamp except for presidents who must be dead only one year (and that this law does not apply to currency which only requires dead people).

hahahah!!! good one!! I almost thought you were serious for a second!

[Jon_in_london]

Originally posted by Brown
From the article:Wow, do you really think so?

Maybe its their eye colour?

[ImpyTimpy]

I'm with skeptic on this one.. Honestly, how can they say he used a "fake" 200 dollar bill, when no such bill exists. In order counterfit something, don't you need it to exist in the first place? It'd be as if someone went and bought groceries with monopoly money and then got told he's going to jail for counterfitting.

It's a transfer of a novelty item for goods...

[Skeptic]

I wonder if J. S. Boggs (http://www.jsgboggs.com/) is involved? (Be sure to click on the link to "Who is Boggs" below his picture.)

[Ladewig]

Originally posted by Ladewig


Why would the average USAian consider this bill so obviously a fake? It is pretty obscure trivia to know that people must be dead for ten years before appearing on a U.S. stamp except for presidents who must be dead only one year (and that this law does not apply to currency which only requires dead people).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

hahahah!!! good one!! I almost thought you were serious for a second!

Actually, I was serious. The vast majority of posters on this board are very aware of current events, are skeptical by nature, and are more able to spot satire than the average American. What is "SO obviously a fake" to us may not be obviously a fake to other people. The broccoli sign was pretty small and everythng else looked rather genuine (at least from the small picture provided).

There are a lot of people who handle money for a living who might ask themselves, "why would a counterfeiter make up a new denomination?" Being unable to answer that question sufficiently, they would assume it is a genuine bill.

[reprise]

The pictures on Australian notes and coins change fairly frequently (plus there are lots of special issues). About half the time when I first receive currency from a new issue, I've been unaware that it even exists. There are many, many versions of our currency here which young shop assistants or those who've arrived here in the last 5 years wouldn't even realise are legal tender.

[shemp]

Originally posted by Skeptic
I wonder if J. S. Boggs (http://www.jsgboggs.com/) is involved? (Be sure to click on the link to "Who is Boggs" below his picture.)

I see his "appearances" page has not been updated since last year. Is he now appearing at Leavenworth?

[Brown]

Originally posted by Skeptic
I wonder if J. S. Boggs (http://www.jsgboggs.com/) is involved?I wondered this, too. (Boggs has been featured on PBS programs pertaining to currency security, and many of his works were shown there.)

[Ladewig]

I wonder if J. S. Boggs is involved?

I thought Boggs limited himself to one-sided "bills."