Los Medanos College’s Mustang Corner Bookstore has had minor issues with counterfeit bills making their way into registers, but as of late it has not been and issue for the students and staff who work there.

The purchase of a Royal Sovereign machine, which determines whether a bill is fake or not, is making life easier in the bookstore.

Bookstore Manager Bob Estrada said the new money-counting machine has been very helpful since it was purchased by the bookstore almost a year ago now, and is a natural progression from the counterfeit pens that were used to distinguish a certain color that would determine whether a bill was counterfeit.

“In the past, we used the yellow counterfeit detecting pens that turn a different color if the paper is not the right kind, but now we have a money counting machine at the registers that we run the bills through and it will give us an error message if there is a problem with a particular bill,” said Estrada. “If the machine does not approve the bill, then the bookstore won’t accept it as payment.”

The staff was relieved when the Royal Sovereign machine was purchased by LMC. There sometimes appeared to be uncertainty in determining whether the pen was working.

“Cashiers weren’t always sure about using the counterfeit pens in regards to what color they should be seeing when they marked the bills. So this is really straightforward by comparison,” said Estrada.

The purpose of the Royal Sovereign system was to make life easier for the staff in the bookstore and it appears that fake bills have not been a major issue since its purchase.

“It’s been a great help in speeding along the assessment process on bills,” said Estrada. “We have issues with counterfeit bills from time to time but I would not say that it’s a huge problem, thankfully.”

The bookstore has reduced the chances of taking in any counterfeit bills with hopes that it continues to not be a problem.