Have you ever paused when receiving a U.S. dollar bill marked with unfamiliar stamps or faint inked symbols? At first glance, these marks can seem odd or even suspicious, as if the bill has been altered or damaged. Yet these small impressions are not random. They are known as chop marks, and rather than diminishing the bill’s value, they tell a story about trust, travel, and human exchange.
Chop marks are typically added by money changers, traders, or currency handlers to indicate that a bill has been examined and accepted as genuine. Each stamp represents a moment of verification — a quiet handshake between strangers who may not share a language, a bank, or a legal system, but who still need a way to trust one another. In this sense, the marks are not defacements, but affirmations.