The Bank has sought to increase public awareness of the main security features of banknotes so that members of the public are better able to protect themselves from the couterfeiter.
Counterfeits are completely worthless.
Anyone accepting a counterfeit has no recourse to the Bank of England and, if they pass it on to another person, they commit an offence. In effect, the person left with the counterfeit has been robbed of the face value of the note or notes. The key message from the Bank is check your banknotes . This requires no special technology and, once someone is familiar with the security features, this takes only a matter of seconds. Feel the paper - the security paper and special printing processes give banknotes their unique feel.