Subliminal messages on French (European?) checks !?

[Adaryn]

One of our members from the French forum fell upon that info:
_http://esaie.free.fr/niveau1/subliminal

quick translation of the first part:

When you draw up a check, you write on lines, such as these ones (see the above link)

When you scan these lines zooming at 1200 or 2400 ppi (or looking with a big magnifyiing glass), you realise they're not lines but a succession of characters :

LEUROPENESEFERAPASDUNCOUPNIDANSUNECONSTRUCTIONDENSEMBLEELLESEFERAPARDESREALISATIONSCONCRETESCREANTDABORDUNESOLIDARITEDEFAIT

thus: "L'Europe ne se fera pas d'un coup, ni dans une construction d'ensemble. Elle se fera par des réalisations concrètes, créant d'abord une solidarité de fait."

=> Europe won't be built in one go, nor in an overall construction. It will be built through concrete achievements, thereby creating a de facto solidarity."

I had it checked on a check from the Credit Agricole, which I had scanned [edit, the original link doesn't seem to work anymore, I put another one]:
_http://blackdots.bravehost.com/imgs/JPW0005.JPG

Click and zoom, you will be able to see the above sentence.
I looked at my personal check book from the Société Générale, and even without glasses or magnifying glass, I could distinguish that same sentence.

The above site also says:
There is also another message with the same "dogmatic" declaration about the future of the planet and "durable" development :

"the future of the planet depends on the capacities of all to modify their modes of production and consumption… sufficiently respecful of the environment in order to lead to a durable and harmonious development".

this I didn't see on the cheques I checked.

This sentence about Europe was pronounced by Robert Schuman, French minister of Foreign Affairs, in 1950.

More than weird! Wonder what is printed on other European countries' checks...

 

[Laura]

I just looked at my cheques (different bank) and, yeah, sure enough... and it's not just the place and date lines, the entire lines where you write the amount and who the check is made out to are tiny little letters. I looked at them with a jewelry loup but can't read them. Maybe tomorrow I'll do a high definition scan and blow it up. Then, maybe I'll print it out and take it to my bank and show them and ask what it means.

 

[Approaching Infinity]

Tiny printing is a security feature to identify counterfeit bills and cheques. However, it's usually just something like "Bank of Canada" repeated...

 

[anart]

Tiny printing is a security feature to identify counterfeit bills and cheques. However, it's usually just something like "Bank of Canada" repeated...

Yep, they have them here in the US as well - but the writing usually just reads 'original document' or something - nothing quite as involved as the EU take on it.

 

[GRiM]

in 2004, CBCDG announced the development of a "Counterfeit Deterrence System" (CDS) incorporating a technical means for the detection of banknotes. This system was reportedly developed by the U.S.-based watermark technology company Digimarc. CBCDG said that the purpose of this system was to "prevent personal computers and digital imaging tools from capturing or reproducing the image of a protected banknote."

Adobe Systems was subsequently the subject of controversy in when it was revealed that the firm had voluntarily adopted the CDS in Adobe Photoshop, preventing Photoshop from processing some images of currency. Jasc (publisher of Paint Shop Pro) and Adobe stated that they had implemented CDS; they reportedly did not receive technical details of the CDS algorithm (in other words, it was provided to them as a black box) [1]. Some artists and professional graphic designers suggested that the CDS would make it more difficult for them to use Photoshop to produce images that used currency in lawful ways [2]. Steven J. Murdoch has begun a technical investigation of how the CDS works.

Try searching for high-res images on google-images and check for yourself, not one singel scanned image. (That I found)



edit: I did not read "check" thought it was about euros.

 

[Jacques]

Tiny printing is a security feature to identify counterfeit bills and cheques. However, it's usually just something like "Bank of Canada" repeated...

Yes it is the same thing for The Caisses populaires Desjardins. It is a security feature.

 

[Laura]

Well, that explains it. Leave it to the French to turn a security feature into an opportunity to quote some Frenchman pontificating. And who knows? Maybe they do intend to send a message, though I doubt that it is subliminal.

 

[Adaryn]

Yes I read it was about security, but why pick up that particular sentence about Europe and not a series of random letters/numbers or anything else ?

And what about this one ?
"the future of the planet depends on the capacities of all to modify their modes of production and consumption… sufficiently respecful of the environment in order to lead to a durable and harmonious development".

Searching for info on this, I found an old discussion on On Nous Cache Tout, where someone had found the above sentence on his check : _http://www.onnouscachetout.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7814&st=0

Some people had speculated at the time (2005) that it was a way to influence people to vote for the "Yes" at the referendum on the European constitution. Apparently it didn't work :)
Still that is weird.

 

[vinny]

my UK cheques have a thin line of pink text all along the bottom (that I never noticed before).
it is VERY small and I can't read it, but my curiosity is piqued, so I'll have to find a high strength magnifying class and see what I can see.

 

[Thomas Alan]

I looked at checks from two different banks. Only the signature line is text on them. "Authorized Signature Only".
Not real exciting but interesting what you can see if you are observant. FWIW I used a kid's style microscope that I bought at a garage sale awhile back. Low tech by today's standards but could read the text quite clearly.

Thomas

 

[dantem]

Didn't know that!

Here the bank's name is repeated ad lib. on checks stripes, those where you usually write down numbers and your signature eventually. Quite boring :) A 3 inches mag. glass will do the job. And a 1200 (real) dpi scan is enough.

 

[Johnno]

Didn't know that!

Here the bank's name is repeated ad lib. on checks stripes, those where you usually write down numbers and your signature eventually. Quite boring :) A 3 inches mag. glass will do the job. And a 1200 (real) dpi scan is enough.

Yes same downunder. Bank's name repeated. I viewed it through a SLR zoom lens looking the opposite way.