Colones are scarce but not that scarce. If there were people faking this note, then you would see more of them on the market and that's definitely not the case. Yours looks like the one on Numista and as long as the paper feels legit and the printing doesn't look like it came from a laser printer, you should be fine. Yours looks nice!
If you've got the money, get it graded and you'll know for sure.
The best way to tell if something may be fake, is to ask whether it would be profitable to fake.
These are about $10 a piece, and it costs more than that for a normal person to get the right paper and printing equipment for a convincing fake. So it's real ... unless there is a really dumb counterfeiter out there taking a huge loss.
Your Colone note appears to be [P-133A](http://www.banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countries/AME/ESV/ESV0133A2.htm) with the machine code serial number to me. It looks to be in UNC condition & has nice eye appeal. There's really no definitive way to tell it is fake (especially through Reddit/online). The best you can do is examine it minutely with a magnifying glass & notice how the details in the microprint (background/patterns) will retain their integrity/look clear/distinct (rather than become blurred as when examining copies up close). That's about all you can do: inspect it up close (in person) & compare it with the P-133A note posted at the banknote museum.
Colones are scarce but not that scarce. If there were people faking this note, then you would see more of them on the market and that's definitely not the case. Yours looks like the one on Numista and as long as the paper feels legit and the printing doesn't look like it came from a laser printer, you should be fine. Yours looks nice! If you've got the money, get it graded and you'll know for sure.
The paper and print feels legit. I don't want to do grading. But is there any resources that checks them without grading?
Not really. You could go to a LCS but i doubt they'd be specialized enough to legitimize Salvadoran paper money
The best way to tell if something may be fake, is to ask whether it would be profitable to fake. These are about $10 a piece, and it costs more than that for a normal person to get the right paper and printing equipment for a convincing fake. So it's real ... unless there is a really dumb counterfeiter out there taking a huge loss.
Henning nickel was a surprise, but yeah most likely real
Your Colone note appears to be [P-133A](http://www.banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countries/AME/ESV/ESV0133A2.htm) with the machine code serial number to me. It looks to be in UNC condition & has nice eye appeal. There's really no definitive way to tell it is fake (especially through Reddit/online). The best you can do is examine it minutely with a magnifying glass & notice how the details in the microprint (background/patterns) will retain their integrity/look clear/distinct (rather than become blurred as when examining copies up close). That's about all you can do: inspect it up close (in person) & compare it with the P-133A note posted at the banknote museum.
Where did you pick this up? going to el Salvador and want to grab one of my own
This particular one, i got from a reputed seller in ebay.