Can a counterfeit twenty be recognized by the number of fingers shown in Jacksons portrait?
Another widespread myth. Over the years, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has updated Andrew Jackson’s portrait and slowly but surely the portrait’s border has been pushed into the original design used on Series 1869 Five Dollar Legal Tender Notes. This border has encroached on Jackson’s hand holding his cloak so that while large size notes display three fingers, small size wet paper notes printed prior to 1957 show two fingers, dry paper issues prior to Series 1996 have little more than one finger remaining, and the recent “redesigned” issues have no hand visible at all. Therefore, counting Jackson’s digits is not useful in determining authenticity, unless looking at a specific era, which the average person will likely find confusing.
