Number of counterfeit banknotes, coins up at 4,904 in Q3

Prague, Oct 22 (CTK) - As many as 4,904 forged and altered banknotes and coins were seized in the Czech Republic in Jan-September this year, which is more than for the full-2008, the Czech National Bank (CNB) said on its website.

More than half of the fakes were euro banknotes, the CNB said.

Last year, a total of 4,584 forged and altered banknotes and coins of all currencies were seized.

A total of 1,028 forged euro banknotes were discovered last year compared to 2,506 at end-September this year. There were 133 fakes in dollars and over 2,000 fakes in crowns.

Besides forged banknotes, the central bank intercepted 1,453 imitations in Q1-Q3, against 789 in the same year-ago period, produced mostly as film props, teaching aids and advertising items.

Over 3 billion crown banknotes and coins were in circulation in the Czech Republic at the end of last year, around Kc80m more year-on-year. Their value went up to almost Kc399bn at end-2008 from Kc353bn at end-2007.

Forged and altered coins and banknotes in 2000 to 2009:

Year Number
2000 9,526
2001 7,226
2002 6,277
2003 10,829
2004 9,289
2005 9,295
2006 7,834
2007 3,524
2008 4,584
Q1-Q3 2009 4,904

Source: the Czech National Bank (CNB)