IRELAND: "Counterfeit €2 coins ": Gardaí warn the public

editor August 03, 2022 0

Dublin: The public has been warned to be aware of the possible circulation of fake €2 coins after gardai seized a large amount of counterfeit currency.

Dublin: Officers from Raheny Garda District launched an investigation into the suspected circulation of bogus two-euro coins and carried out a number of searches at the end of July. During these searches, coins with an apparent face value of €2,920 were seized. They were examined and confirmed to be counterfeit currency, gardai said. Officers said it is the first large seizure of counterfeit coins in this jurisdiction.

One person was charged as a result of the operation, and they appeared in court in July. The bank accounts with assets worth €73,986.62 have been frozen.

Euro Coins
The Central Bank acts as an agent of the Minister of Finance in the production and issue of euro coins. All seniorage received is returned to the Irish Exchequer.
There are currently 19 member states of the Eurozone. All euro coins have a distinct common side (obverse) and national side (reverse), the latter of which is specific to each member state. The euro coin series comprises eight different denominations: €2, €1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c and 1c.
Common side
The common side of the coins was designed by Luc Luycx of the Royal Belgium Mint. His initials are visible on the obverse of the coins. The obverse displays a geographical image of Europe, except for the 1c, 2c and 5c coins which show Europe in relation to Africa and Asia.

The design of the obverse has remained the same since 2002, apart from an update in 2007 to include 10 new accession countries, although not all were members of the Eurozone.

Following an investigation by Gardaí €2920 of fake €2 coins have been seized. One person was charged and had since appeared before the courts.

Advice on counterfeit currency is available here. https://t.co/VAb2MCfuuO pic.twitter.com/crWNX5iVJT
— Garda Info (@gardainfo) August 3, 2022

On the Central Bank website, the general public can discover information on how to recognise fake money.

One piece of advice is to visually analyse any dubious coins and compare them to recognised real coins, possibly using a magnifying glass.
According to the website, a fake coin will have poor quality image detail, a different coloured ring or core, no edge text, or inaccurate spelling.
Additionally, it might be a varied length, width, height, or weight.
Additionally, some fake coins flex, while genuine €2 and €1 coins have a faint magnetic field.
According to a garda spokeswoman, employing a magnet should enable you to raise the coin; but, given its weight and weak magnetic field, you should be able to shake the coin free of the magnet with ease.
"Due to the materials employed, the majority of counterfeit coins are either completely magnetic, hardly magnetic, or magnetic only in the ring.
"Real 50 cent pieces are not magnetic. The suspect coin or note could potentially be compared to a recognised authentic example.
If a member of the public believes they have a fake bill or coin, they can take it to their neighbourhood bank, garda station, or the National Analysis Centre (NAC) or Coin National Analysis Centre of the Central Bank (CNAC).

For more details Visit: CENTRAL BANK WEBSITE