How Fake Money Is Made For Movies And TV | Movies Insider

Prop money is everywhere in film and television, but people don't realize how difficult, complicated, and risky it is to print prop movie money. Gregg Bilson Jr. is the CEO of ISS Props, one of the biggest prop houses in the world. In 2000 he got his biggest order for prop money ever: a trillion dollars for "Rush Hour 2." However, after the fake money got into the hands of some extras who tried to spend it in the real world, the Secret Service ended up serving ISS with a cease and desist and confiscating all of the prop money from the movie. These days only a handful of companies print prop money because of the inherent risk. The companies that do still print prop money generally offer two major types of bills, "standard" and "high-grade." The standard bills are printed on both sides, and they look great from far away. However, up close, the differences become apparent. So for close-ups, high-grade bills are used. These bills are identical to real cash, but they are printed on only one side so they can't be used as real currency. Movies and television also occasionally use real bills on camera. Bilson and ISS lend out real cash as often as they can because it looks great on camera and it avoids issues with the Secret Service. However, the ultimate irony of printing prop money is that it actually isn't very profitable.

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#Money #Props #Insider

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How Fake Money Is Made For Movies And TV | Movies Insider

[garrisonfjord]

I found a torn up 50 dollar bill the other day that was for motion picture use. Pretty sure someone duped a drug dealer with it.

[sampletext]

I love how they almost commited a fraud by making good movie props

[sultanahazuri]

I had one of those fake hundreds from the set. I Carried it around for years for good luck. Recently someone broke into my car and stole it. I honestly hope they got caught trying to buy something with it.
That would be their Karma for breaking into my car.

[Xolanidj]

The irony is that part of the plot in Rush Hour 2 was that they were busting a money counterfeiting ring. 😂

[FinancialShinanigan]

Fake bills make Benjamin Franklin look like he got botox

[jay_mw]

I have a stack of prop money that looks pretty real. One day my Dad asked to borrow it because he was helping my brother with some work on my brother's house. My Dad stuck the prop money in a wall that was partially open knowing my brother was going to finish tearing down the rest. The way my Dad described it my brother thought it was real and his hand were shaking as he was counting it. Then my Dad couldn't contain it any longer and burst out laughing.

[WitherGirlGaming]

The top bill: "This note is legal tender"
The bottom bill: "This is Not legal tender"

[dgcfgvvgb]

Tbh side by side it was pretty obvious at the start that the face on the bottom bill looked different and less defined

[KBYT]

So the Props company is literally buying "money" for money.

[Rompler_Rocco]

5:58 So the "too real" Rush Hour 2 bills are the most fake looking?? 🙃

[osjohnmagpale]

Now the secret service knows he has that remaining two fake bills. Thanks alot

[iceicejay]

Someone at my job yesturday accepted a "motion picture use only" the girl was fired that same day.

[KhaosN]

Fin fact, for certain scenes in Casino, were Robert De Nero is handling money, they used real money because De Nero didn't like the way that the prop money felt in his hands. The Prop arranger on the film withdrew $5, 000 cash from his account and they used that for the scenes. Every day after filming, no one was allowed to go home until all of the cash was returned and accounted for.

[BeckVMH]

I don’t recall ever scrutinizing the appearance of money used in a film or television. But, interesting.

[jd]

The funny part about the Rush Hour 2 thing, is that the money in the movie is fake itself and they're trying to catch the bad guys that are printing them.

[tequilacollins]

A guy who used to work for the US Treasury as an engraver retired. After which he designed & printed US $1, 000, 000 bills and sold them as novelty items. It looked very real because he had 40 years of experience.
The Secret Service charged him with forgery. The case was dropped before it ever got to court because there's no such thing as a US $1, 000, 000 bill. You can't forge what doesn't exist.
You can still buy these bills. I bought a stack of them off of eBay some years ago. They look super real, but feel super fake.

However, about 10-15 years ago, a woman tried to use one as real money at Walmart. She had about $400 worth of merchandise and was arrested while waiting for her change. Claimed she didn't know it was fake.

[marky]

I worked as an Armed Security Officer for a large grocery chain in Texas and we had a customer come in and try to pass a fake $100 bill as real and on the bill it literally said "For Movie Use only" it was a pretty convincing looking bill other then that but the "For movie use only" was rather big and noticeable so the cashier took the bill to her manager and they had us come in and detain the guy until PD showed up and they took homeboy and the bill.

[olmar]

Inside using a meme for a thumbnail: "It's like printing me own money!"

[ivantorres]

I used to work at a local Wendy’s near my house, and one of my co-workers had accepted a movie bill. It was relatively realistic, other than the fact that it said FOR MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY on both sides in huge letters. I was surprised, but also realized how easily he could’ve made that mistake.

[buffbanana]

Add this to the giant pile of useless trivia I now know thanks to random Youtube recommendations.