U.S. Counterfeit 25 Cents, FR-1291- 1869 dated Fractional Currency

25 Cents, FR-1291. Counterfeit taken April 6, 1869. Front and back shown.

Counterfeiting of the currency of the United States is widely attempted. According to the United States Department of Treasury, an estimated $70 million in counterfeit bills are in circulation, or approximately 1 note in counterfeits for every 10,000 in genuine currency, with an upper bound of $200 million counterfeit, or 1 counterfeit per 4,000 genuine notes. However, these numbers are based on annual seizure rates on counterfeiting, and the actual stock of counterfeit money is uncertain because some counterfeit notes successfully circulate for a few transactions. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to "provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States". This has been considered by federal courts to be an exception to freedom of speech. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfeit_United_States_currency