As a lifelong resident of the Great Golden State, it has been very difficult to watch the annual fiasco of our state budget process. This year is truly dismaying, as the state has been forced to issue IOU’s to vendors and others to whom money is owed , including the good residents of California who paid their income taxes and are due a refund.
We heard that many banks are willing to cash these warrants (www.bloomberg.com) for a limited time, and also that private markets to trade the warrants (NPR News Story) have begun to spring-up.
Interest piqued, I set-out to determine whether these “Registered Warrants” might have counterfeit prevention security features. After calling many of our customers (banks, credit unions, etc) we lucked out when our VP of Sales, John Herlihy, saw someone depositing a warrant at our local WAMU (excuse me, Chase) branch. He asked the branch manager if they could look at it under one of the FraudFighter detectors they have in all Chase branches, and voila! clear as day a bright, repeating image of the California State Seal appears under long wave UV light.
So, if you are going to be cashing these warrants, or are considering in investing, or accepting one as payment of a debt, you should use a UV detector to confirm that the warrant has the correct fluorescing UV security features.
August 12, 2009 at 4:52 am
If effect the STATE OF CALIFORNIA is printing its own money. I would honor this above the FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES on principal alone. California contains an eighth of the population of the United States and 80% of the wealth of the United States. If it was my call I would get rid of the Federal Reserve and have California print all of the money. California can print it up and loan it out at face value and charge interest the same as the Federal Reserve. ABOLISH THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM!!! NEXT THE IRS!!!