Cambodia 1992 20 Riel. Printed by guerilla Khmer Rouge
forces in 1992. Destroyed by the Cambodian government shortly after.ONLY FEW ORIGINAL SURVIVED
I quot the letter I got with the notes 5 years ago
Counterfeit 1992 Khmer Rouge notes. 05/2001
Counterfeits of the 1992 Khmer Rouge or Khieu Samphan notes is a recent development occurring only in the last year as far as we can tell. My history with Cambodia has involved spending several years there as a volunteer worker. A friend and I have been following the life of these notes closely since their surfacing. We have seen them as a scarce note in poor conditions, to becoming seemingly abundant and in high grade conditions, to then becoming scarce once again. While I am now based in New Zealand, my friend has remained in Cambodia, always on the lookout for these notes. I have followed these notes constantly on Ebay. We have always believed that it was only a matter of time before they were reproduced in counterfeit, due to the ease with which this could be done (lack of individual serial numbers, and very photographic look to the notes, making reproduction easy). When we first began dealing in these notes, we sent several away to be looked at by someone well known to the Paper Money circles and who knew these notes. He gave us tips on what to look for. The main feature to look for was the dot pattern of printing which was used. The dots can been seen by a high powered glass and appear in a flower kind of pattern.
When the first counterfeit appeared (a 50 Riel in UNC), we knew immediately that something was different (and were suspicious due to the fact that a 50 riel had not been seen in high grades for some time by us) and it was not until the note was examined through a high powered glass that it was seen that the dot pattern was not there, rather the ink was “painted” on like a good photocopy.
Several months lapsed and then we were presented the opportunity to purchase several KR20,s 100’s and 50’s in high grades. When first examined, these notes looked real, felt real, and even had the dot pattern described before. However, when compared to a genuine KR 20 in lesser condition, something seemed to be wrong. I sent several hours looking at the notes trying to pinpoint the differences. This is what we came up with. To see these differences I had to have a genuine note in each hand at the same time. If you are comparing the notes in your collection to these fake notes and they look no different to these notes, and you see none of the differences I describe, then they are most likely to be fake. Now when I look at these notes I wonder how it took so long to see the differences, they seem so glaring to me now. I would encourage you to try and find the differences for yourself before comparing these differences listed below.
2. The image is not flush with the edges and is slightly crooked.
3. The paper can often be discoloured around the edges, suggesting a different method of printing.
4. The paper, when compared directly to a genuine note is slightly thicker and the paper whiter.
5. Clarity is the main differentiating feature. The entire image is out of focus. This can be mainly seen in the serial number (batch number), the signature, the faces and the background. In the genuine note, details can be seen clearly, shadows, depth of contrast, facial features, can all be seen. In the fake, the tend to blur into each other. This is most clearly seen on the fake KR20 Riel as there is a lot of detail. Basically, if the edges of the numbers, the signature, the figures in the foreground, and especially the borders are blurred and not sharp or well defined, this will be the best indicator as to the authenticity of your note.
6. Colour. The colours of the fake notes are brighter as if the sun were shining brighter on that day. The colours are slightly less realistic. Once again, this can be seen more clearly on the fake 20 riel when looking at the cattle in the foreground.
7. Shadows of images on the other side appearing as a printed image on the side you are looking at. If you hold a genuine KR 20 up to the light, you will see at the top right hand corner of the image, a piece of the border on the other side has overlapped and you can see it almost like a watermark. When you take it away from the light, you can not see this overlap. However, if you hold the fake note flat with no light behind it, you can see that it has been printed and looks like a blue smudge. Place the fake note on a black surface with no light behind it and you will see what I mean. The method of printing the genuine notes was very primitive and would not have used light like a scanner or photocopier. However, when a method using light is used, the shadows from the other side are detected and printed as an image. This can also be seen on the bottom left of the image on the 20 Riel where there is a white section at the border. On the genuine note this is white. On the fake note, this once again has been printed as a blue mark. On the 100 Riel this can be seen just above the head of the lady bending over in the foreground. She has a smudge above her head which has come from the temple spire on the other side. Also the stone head on the right hand border of the other side appears as a shadow on the right hand side of the front of the image.
8. Also (Please don’t wince but I tried this on a genuine 10 Riel note), if you bend or fold a genuine note it just folds but the image stays intact. However, on the fake notes the image tends to crack.
There are probably many other differences. If you see more, please let me know on achutch1@slingshot.co.nz
In summary, the best way to know is firstly look at the clarity, if it is real the definition will be sharp and clear. Secondly, hold the note up to the light so that you can see the images on the other side. If, when you take the note away from the light, the image on the other side remains as a smudge, your note is fake.
I hope your collections are genuine and that you feel confident knowing what to look for. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me and I will see what I can do to answer them.
Yours Sincerely, Adam Hutchinson
Holding the notes you will notice the defrences immidiatly and you can be sure you add to your collection one of the rarest notes in your collection
US $31,00 (EUR 24,05) Minimumverkoopprijs nog niet gehaald, 20-apr-06, ebay, yak100