An estimated $30 billion in illegal cash crosses U.S. borders into Mexico annually. Border Patrol has the daunting job of finding it before it leaves, and last year, U.S. officials seized $106 million. The Department of Homeland Security recently put out a public call for currency detection devices. KWJ Engineering responded with a money-sniffing instrument. The Bulk Currency Detection System (BCDS) relies upon gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS).
GC/MS uses a small sample that is vaporized and transmitted via carrier gas through a tube coated with a solid chemical. The solid chemical is selected according to the sample to be separated. The sample chemical least likely to bind to the solid chemical elutes (i.e., comes out of the tube) first, the next least likely to bind second, and so on. The separated components tell the user what makes up the sample.
Gas chromatography is ideal for compounds like the ones American dollars emit. According to Dr. Joseph Stetter of KWJ Engineering, their device can identify the chemical fingerprint of money in less than a minute.
GC/MS Challenges to Using GC/MS
Stetter's firm had to figure out how to find the dollar's chemical signature. To identify the "smell" of money, they sealed 100 used $1 bills in a chamber and warmed them to release vapors. The chemicals that showed up in all the results make up the smell of money. As it happens, this chemical signature comes from several aldehydes, furans and organic acids in parts per million (for security reasons, no one is allowed to publish the exact mix).
The BCDS trial period won't begin for another two to three years. Then, officers will use the proposed design, a backpack with a wand to wave over clothing or into baggage or vehicles. Detection of a high intensity of the chemical signature would indicate the presence of cash and allow illegal dollars to be seized.
“The smell of money” is often a term used when someone smells some type of animal manure. Usually, the “money making manure” is produced by animals who are raised for human consumption, including hogs, cattle, chickens, and turkeys…just to name a few.
“From the smell of the paper they are made of to the scent of fingerprints or ink.” The olfactory pyramid of this 'scent of money' starts with the olfactory notes of a banknote that has just left the Mint “and then moves on to more 'iridescent' and woody notes reminiscent of the smell of old banknotes.”
The hunt is complicated by the fact that a dollar's scent evolves as it circulates—from an inky-cotton fragrance fresh from the bank to an earthier, greasy-palm smell that should remind people to wash their hands more often.
The Latin phrase pecunia non olet, or “money has no smell” traces back to the policy of collecting tax on urine in ancient Rome. Urine was taken from public toilets and distributed to businesses like tanners and launderers, who paid tax to make use of its ammonia content.
Oct-1-En-3-One (also 1-octen-3-one) is the chemical responsible for the dull, metallic smell we associate with money. It is actually a by-product of the reaction of certain chemicals in human sweat that break down in the presence of iron (Fe²+) ions.
Researchers recorded the results of both laboratory and store-based experiments, and concluded that when people are in an environment diffused with what are considered “warm scents” like cinnamon or vanilla, they spend more money than when they're in environments with “cool scents” like peppermint.
Obviously a scratch-and-sniff patch had been included to foil counterfeiters! News of the maple-scented money spread quickly, delighting journalists on almost every continent. But, tragically for drive-time deejays looking for weird news to joke about, both rumors were quickly debunked by the Bank of Canada.
Introduction: My name is Dr. Pierre Goyette, I am a enchanting, powerful, jolly, rich, graceful, colorful, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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