In Falls Creek, Pa., the Secret Service could find funny money passing around. But it's just remodeler Tim Britton, in his latest effort at “top of mind” awareness. He prints hundred-dollar bills with his likeness instead of Ben Franklin's on the bill and signs them in lieu of the Secretary of the Treasury.
Britton's $100 certificate is good toward $2,000 or more in service work or materials purchased through his showroom, Home-town Building Supply. He had 1,000 bills printed for a home show and found people were more inclined to keep them than to hold onto a business card. They come in handy for closing sales, to lighten the mood, and to seal deals — and in bets with business colleagues on the golf course.
He says a couple thousand Britton bucks are in circulation these days.
Before following Britton's example, contractors should consult the Counterfeit Detection Act of 1992, which permits color illustrations of U.S. currency provided the illustration is less than three-fourths or more than one and one-half times the size of the item illustrated; that the illustration is one-sided; and that anything used in the making the illustration is destroyed or erased.
