How much do you know about different types of movie props? If you are an avid movie watcher, you may have learned a little about a movie prop that really interested you from a favorite movie. Perhaps you are really interested in a movie prop like currency that is used in nearly lal films. Although you may not have guessed it, a movie prop like currency actually has rules and regulations it must follow in order to be used in movies.

Interested in learning more about Hollywood movie money and how this movie prop is regulated? Keep reading for more information on prop money and how it differs from currency used in the real world.

5 Interesting Facts About Currency as a Movie Prop

When you are watching a movie and currency comes on the screen, you probably think it looks just like real money. However, this is not the case. In fact, currency used as a movie prop is designed and produced to look different from real currency. There are a variety of laws set in place to make sure that currency in movies cannot be mistaken for money used in the real world, that way it cannot be used as counterfeit money. Here’s five interested facts about currency as a movie prop.

1. The size of money as a prop

Currency that is reproduced to be used in a movie must not be the actual size of currency used in the real world. There is an act that dictates this, the Counterfeit Detection Act of 1992. This act states that any money that is reproduced must be 75 percent the size of normal currency of more than 150 percent the size of normal currency. It also can only be one-sided rather than a replication on both sides. This helps to ensure that currency as a movie prop cannot be used to purchase real goods outside of its prop use.

2. The resolution of currency as a movie prop

In addition to being a different size than normal currency, when it is used as a movie prop money must have a resolution of 72 dpi or less. This is another way to distinguish it from actual money so that it cannot be used illegally. This rule is true for any currency that is reproduced digitally.

3. Burning money

Whenever you see actors burning currency on a movie screen, this is another way to know that the currency is only a movie prop. It is not actual currency used to purchase goods in the real world. This is because it is illegal to burn currency under 18 USC 333. Not only can money not be burned under this law, but also money cannot be mutilated in any way or else a crime has been committed.

4. How currency as a movie prop feels

When you hold currency in your hand, it probably has a feeling that you can easily distinguish as real. Currency used as a movie prop is required to printed on paper that has a different feel to it. It is only printed on a high-quality paper. Actual currency, on the other hand, is printed on 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton. It also has red and blue security fibers that are distributed throughout the printing material in a random order.

5. What happens if movie prop currency is used to buy goods

If someone were to try to purchase goods in the real world using movie prop currency, this would be a crime. This crime can be punished with up to 20 years in prison along with fines up to $250,000. Since the crime holds so much weight, it helps explain why the rules and regulations are set in place to very carefully distinguish Hollywood movie money from currency used in the real world. Since the money is a different size, a different resolution, and feels different, most people are able to easily realize it is not actual currency but rather a prop.

Next time you see currency in a film, you will know that it is most likely a movie prop rather than actual currency.