The Post Office Department began issuing money orders in 1864. Criminals followed the money, trying to exploit money orders to their advantage. Crooks have misused money orders by stealing blank ones from post offices, altering them to receive more money than the order was made for, and creating counterfeit money orders.

To ensure that money orders remain a safe and secure way to transfer funds, postal officials continue to add new security features to these documents. Postal employees are trained to look for a number of security features, such as watermarks, security threads and random visible fibers, on modern money orders to determine if they are authentic.

Money order images courtesy of the Ron J. Pry Historical Collection