Look at the borders. The outside border of real money should be "clear and unbroken," according to Secret Service officials.
- On Federal Reserve and Treasury seals, the saw-tooth points of the borders should be sharp and well-defined on genuine bills. Seals on a counterfeit bill often have uneven, blunt, or broken saw-tooth points.
- Look for bleeding ink. Because of the difference in printing methods between real and fake bills, the border ink can sometimes bleed on a fake.