The Million Dollar Bill

Ok first click on this link here.

Now anybody who is anybody knows that the US Mint doesn't make a million dollar bill. Especially those who work at a bank. Yet if you look at the link that I just gave you, you'll notice that there are pen marks on the bill from banks when they use their "counterfeit" pens to tell whether or not the bill is fake. You mean to tell me that the personnel at the bank didn't know automatically that the bill was fake? Was it really that hard to tell that you had to use the counterfeit pen on the bill three times? The first time wasn't convincing enough? If you work at a bank then you should know that there is no such thing!

So why did they even pen the bill in the first place. That's right, because someone actually tried to open a bank account with the bill. Yep, not exactly smart. Alexander D. Smith, 31, was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery after he walked into the bank and tried to open an account by depositing the fake $1 million bill. So did he really act disorderly when they didn't deposit his money? Did he really believe that he would get the money?

My problem is that he was charged with forgery. The definition of forgery is, "the production of a spurious work that is claimed to be genuine, such as a coin, a painting, or the like." Since he did not make it, more on that in a minute, can he be charged with forgery? Here's the real kicker, Police say that it was a fake $1 million dollar bill, but since there is no such thing as a real $1 million dollar bill, can he be charged with forgery?

A little history on the Million Dollar Bill.

The million dollar bill was started by Ron Comfort and The Great News Network, a network dedicated in teaching people about Jesus Christ. The Great News Network were asking people if they were going to Heaven or not, calling it the "million dollar question". They decided to make a million dollar bill and put a short statement around the bill that would remind people that the question of Salvation is a million dollar question.

But even the Secret Service apparently has problems with the Million dollar bill as well. Last month the Secret Service raided the offices of the Great News Network and seized 8300 of the bills. Apparently, the Secret Service felt they looked a little bit too much like real currency for comfort. Is it really that hard to tell the difference? Of coarse back in 1992, the studio of J.S.G. Boggs was raided by the Secret Service. J.S.G. Boggs creates counterfeit currency as art, though his bills are single-sided, so they're not likely to be mistaken for actual money. The Secret Service seized thousands of his works, and haven't returned them to this day.

According to the US Treasury’s own policy it is illegal to duplicate and make copies that are comparable to existing currency with the intent to commit fraud. Since there is no such thing as a Million Dollar bill in circulation, it is obviously not illegal to create, print and or distribute one. In other words, how do you counterfeit something that doesn’t exist? In fact, you can purchase all the million dollar bills you want from various novelty retailers throughout the US. If it is such a big deal, why not make the production of all bills not printed by the US Mint illegal.

I just don't see why this is such a big deal. Someone please help me to understand.