Money Tracker Forums > Spreading the word > Writing moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?

Thread: Writing moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?

PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by andrew 17 years ago (25 Nov 2006)
Australian law clearly states that defacing banknotes is illegal:
CRIMES (CURRENCY) ACT 1981- SECT 16
Defacing or destroying current coins or current paper money


A person shall not, without the consent, in writing, of an authorized person, intentionally deface, disfigure, mutilate or destroy any coin or paper money that is lawfully current in Australia.
So what does defacing exactly mean in this situation? Section 4 of the same act states:
Without limiting the meaning of the expression "deface", a coin or paper money shall be taken to have been defaced for the purposes of this Act if some or all of its surfaces are coated with any material.
So according to the above statements, writing on a banknote with a pen or permanent marker is obviously illegal.

My question: are you defacing a banknote if what you do to it is completely reversible? For example, would I be breaking the law if I write moneytracker.com.au on a small removable sticker and place it on a $20 note? If this is illegal, is writing a shopping list on a post-it note and sticking it temporarily to a $20 note illegal too?

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by libby 17 years ago (27 Nov 2006)
I just print it on a sticky lable and off it goes, that how I recieved my first note, and thats exactly how I copied it!

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by athlon 17 years ago (1 Dec 2006)
Imagine that "Coles", "Mayer" etc would stick their "Advertisement or whats on special" on notes..


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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by erf 17 years ago (2 Jan 2007)
i've found it easy enough to put a piece of clear sticky tape on the note then write in marker pen onto the tape. Works well for me, and isnt overly obvious too.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by gimboid13 17 years ago (13 Jan 2007)
Maybe someone could design an A4 size poster for those interested enough to print and stick up around places like shopping centres.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by enlilninlil 17 years ago (6 Mar 2007)
Sut if you use the word soecimen, sample and scna the banknote then I dont think its illegal, I believe it refers to permanent damage.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by poundtracker 17 years ago (7 Mar 2007)
i got my 1st note with da site written on it
so i dnt c y u cnt do it lol


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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by gildamesh80 16 years ago (25 Apr 2007)
I've printed off the following in size 8 font and then stuck some sticky tape over the top:

Where's this note been?
moneytracker.com.au

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by poundtracker 16 years ago (29 Apr 2007)
does it work? do ppl say n e thing to you when you spend it
? it sounds legal

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by moneyman93 16 years ago (17 Jan 2008)
http://www.moneytracker.com.au/note/3240.html
See this example; I think DEFINITELY DON'T write on the actual note; you'll just get it destroyed, which is pointless. Instead use labels.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by nicholasbduckman 16 years ago (5 Mar 2008)
Is there anything wrong with writing on the note in pencil? Pretty much everyone has an eraser!

I don't have it anymore, but I once had a note that said something like 789 written in pen on the edge. I didn't put it on here, but if anyone comes across it, please log it on here! P.S. I THINK I spent it the K-Mart at West Lakes, although that was ages (about a year) ago!

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by poundtracker 16 years ago (14 Mar 2008)
moneyman93 said:
http://www.moneytracker.com.au/note/3240.html
See this example; I think DEFINITELY DON'T write on the actual note; you'll just get it destroyed, which is pointless. Instead use labels.
Are you sure they wernt jokin? like cmon, who takes a written note back to the mint?! lol

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by moneyman93 16 years ago (14 Mar 2008)
I don't mean the actual person, I mean next time it gets audited for quality.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by poundtracker 16 years ago (15 Mar 2008)
moneyman93 said:
I don't mean the actual person, I mean next time it gets audited for quality.
do they really audit it? wow, i didnt know that

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by jordo 16 years ago (15 Mar 2008)
To my knowledge, any note that has a rip, tear, or mark should be taken out of circulation by banks and vendors and sent to the Reserve to be destroyed. It is classed as an unfit note.

An adhersive clear sticker, or something along those lines would be the best option as it can be easily removed.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by moneyman93 16 years ago (15 Mar 2008)
See this link http://www.rba.gov.au/CurrencyNotes/DamagedNotes/index.html

I think a taped on piece of paper is definitely the go, although it can be a bit embarassing spending them. What do you say if someone asks?

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by gimboid13 16 years ago (25 Mar 2008)
Deny everything.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by moneyman93 16 years ago (26 Mar 2008)
Just what I was thinking. I reckon the best bet is for example if something is $15, spend 3 5's, then it looks like you just got it in change.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by harchickgirl1 15 years ago (26 May 2008)
libby said:
I just print it on a sticky lable and off it goes, that how I recieved my first note, and thats exactly how I copied it!
I just had two hits in my first month. The key to my success is probably that I send out about half of my notes with an address label (Avery inkjet J8651 - 38.1mm x 21.2mm).

The label says "Where's this note been?" with www.moneytracker.com.au underneath.

I choose which notes to hand out where. I don't like to give labelled notes to shopkeepers whom I know well, and it's wasteful to hand labelled notes to banks or other places where it will be immediately peeled off.

I try to pass off a labelled note together with an unlabelled note. I put the label between the two, and they're always accepted.

I've only had one cashier peel off the label. I only owed one banknote that time, and she found the label when she turned it over to put it in her cash register. I feigned ignorance and curiosity, and she was none the wiser. She even handed the label back to me, suggesting that I might want to get online and see what this was all about.

Cheers, and have fun!

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by chuq 15 years ago (7 Aug 2008)
I would think that one of those labeller machines (Dymo/Brother P-Touch/etc) with black "ink" on a transparent label would be good. Being transparent, the label would be less likely to be noticed by shopkeepers/cashiers, who handle thousands of bills a day, but still likely that others would notice it.

I'll try it and see

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by millej02 15 years ago (20 Aug 2008)
i think that u cant write on banknotes but u can sure put a sticky note on it but wouldnt it look weird when u hand it into the supermarket or something

i need to go on a weightloss program

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by harchickgirl1 15 years ago (8 Oct 2008)
I've had only my second label peeled off in front of me last week. Not bad.

I wanted to add to this discussion that machines won't take a note with a label on it.

I've tried putting labelled notes into a Safeway self-service payment machine (at a newly renovated store), a parking fee machine, and a drinks vending machine. They must be sensitive to the label in the same way that they disallow old, crinkled notes and notes with corner folds.

Ah well. I must be doing something right with these labels. I've had 10 of 434 notes hit and 15 total hits on my notes since 9 Apr 2008. My percentage is 2.3% of notes hit. Not great, but not bad either.

Yea!

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by gimboid13 15 years ago (22 Jan 2009)
I've had hits on 29 notes from 1135 or 2.6% and 65 total hits. Anyone else like to share their results?

The template for my labels is here if anyone's interested:

www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1032952&da=y

It prints onto Avery L7161 labels or you can just do it on plain A4 if you don't mind using sticky tape.



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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by redback 15 years ago (13 Apr 2009)
I bought some sheets of a4 sticky paper from the newsagent, they were 20c each

Design labels however you want, then just cut them with scissors

I print 3 across and 20 down on an A4, and stick them across the width of the notes.
I place them in my wallet so that the sticker is facing down when I pull them out.

All good so far.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by redback 14 years ago (4 May 2009)
Just wanted to add that I put stickers on 9 notes out of a stack of 10 and banked them

Our bank has automated counting machines now, and all but 1 of them was accepted by the machine, and the teller just put it in her little draw for shit notes without saying anything.

If you are going to do something like this, I recommend putting the money in an envelope, so if you get caught you can fein ignorance by saying you were given the money sealed in the envelope.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by aegean 13 years ago (16 Mar 2011)
the act is there so people wont continue to write a large amount to make the note unrecognisable or hard to read. Having pen marks or a scribble of sorts isnt breaking the law as the note is still able to be identified.

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by moneyman93 13 years ago (17 Mar 2011)
Printed piece of paper with sticky tape works just fine- fold in half firmly with the label on the inside if it bothers you using labelled notes. That's how I've gotten all but 1 of my hits

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by brisdaz 10 years ago (19 Jun 2013)
Any updates on this?

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PostWriting moneytracker.com.au on banknotes - what is and isn't legal?
Posted by aegean 5 years ago (26 Aug 2018)
brisdaz said:
Any updates on this?
Im sure it is illegal but no one will catch you unless they catch you in the act of printing the site on the notes!

Plus i think the new series of plastic notes might be more trickier to stamp.

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