The difference between bill forgery and bill alteration is as follows:

1. Different concepts

Bill forgery refers to the issuance of bills in the name of others or the issuance of bills in the name of others. The act of signing a bill. In the case of forged bills, the person being counterfeited does not personally sign the bill and is therefore not responsible for the bill. Instrument alteration refers to the act of changing other recorded matters on the instrument except the signature and seal without authority to affect the liability of the instrument.

2. The legal consequences are different

The maximum penalty for the crime of currency alteration is less than 10 years, while the maximum penalty for the crime of counterfeiting currency is death. Alteration is processing on the basis of original currency to make it falsely add value, while forgery is making something out of nothing, processing non-monetary substances into currency. Altered currency has the components of the original currency; counterfeit currency does not, or completely changes its form, such as melting real metal coins and casting them into currency with a larger face value.

3. Different establishment conditions

Two conditions must be met for the establishment of bill forgery: the forger must perform bill acts, such as bill issuance, endorsement, acceptance, and guarantee If the act performed is not a bill act, it does not constitute bill forgery. The bill must be carried out in the name of another person, such as imitating other people's signatures, forging other people's seals, stealing other people's real seals, etc.

The alteration of a bill refers to an act in which a person without the authority to change changes the matters recorded on the bill other than the signature. The following three conditions must be met: the altered bill is a legally established and valid bill; the content of the alteration is the matters recorded on the bill other than the signature. If the signature or seal on the bill is changed, it is a forgery of the bill; the forger has no right to change it.

After the bill has been altered, it remains valid. Although the altered bill is a valid bill, the act of altering the bill is an illegal act, and the person who altered the bill should bear legal responsibility.