If you exchange cash in Bolivia, checking a note takes a few seconds and can save you money. Both the US Federal Reserve and the Central Bank of Bolivia teach a three-step method.
US dollars: feel, tilt, check
- Feel the paper: genuine notes feel slightly rough because of the raised printing and the special cotton-linen paper.
- Tilt the note: on $10 bills and higher, the numeral in the lower right corner shifts from copper to green. The current $100 has a blue 3-D security ribbon woven into the paper, where bells change into 100s as you tilt it, and a bell in a copper inkwell that turns green.
- Check against the light: a faint portrait watermark appears on $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes, and a security thread runs vertically (on the $100 it reads "USA 100" and glows pink under UV light).
Check at least two or three features: a counterfeiter may copy one. Older US designs remain legal tender, but they have fewer features, so check them more carefully. In Bolivia, exchange houses often pay less for torn or old notes.
Bolivianos: look, touch, tilt
Two note families circulate in Bolivia and both are valid: the previous one and the First Family of the Plurinational State, issued since April 2018. Notes come in Bs 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200.
- Look against the light: watermark, and the "see-through register" where the note's value, printed in two halves on the front and back, completes exactly.
- Touch the cotton paper and the raised print.
- Tilt the note: the security thread changes color, and on the back of the new family an animal image changes color and seems to move. On the "B" series the thread is 4 mm wide and shows a portrait and the value.
The "B" series serial number checker
On February 27, 2026 a plane carrying new "B" series notes crashed in El Alto and part of the cargo was stolen. The Central Bank voided those serial numbers (17.1 million pieces of Bs 10, 20 and 50, about 1.4% of the series). You can check any Bs 10, 20 or 50 "B" series note with the BCB serial number checker or the official "Billetes de Bolivia" app. Banks retain voided notes as if they were counterfeit.
If you receive a fake note
Do not try to pass it on. Exchange money only at banks or ASFI-licensed exchange houses, count it at the counter and ask for a receipt. For questions about bolivianos, the Central Bank's toll-free line is 800 10 2023.