PHILADELPHIA: At first glance it looked like the real thing, so store clerk Kathryn Miller was happy to accept the $US200 bill as payment – and even make change.
The bill did carry a picture of President George W. Bush, but he is not one of the presidents who appear on the US currency and in any case there is no such thing as a $200 bill.
That did not stop Miller, who works at Fashion Bug, a women's clothing store in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, from taking the bill in payment for an item costing $99.
She also gave change to Deborah Trautwine, a resident of nearby Jeanette, said Jeanne Martin, a spokeswoman for the state police in Greensburg.
"Anyone with any bit of knowledge should have recognised that it wasn't the real thing," Martin said.
Trautwine, who was located by police on the basis of information from the clothing store, was charged with forgery, theft by deception, and receiving stolen property.
The bill was probably a joke rather than a forgery, said Martin. "It was some sort of gag money," she said.
She didn't know whether Miller still works at Fashion Bug.
