A new $100 Euro-style bill which changes color will be circulated throughout America in October, it has been announced.
The Federal Reserve said yesterday that it will begin circulating the $100 bill which has been redesigned with high-tech security features this fall - more than two years after its initial target.
The revamped note includes added security features to prevent it from being forged by counterfeiters.
Greenback revamped: A combination photo shows the front and back of the newly designed $100 bill that will be put into circulation October 8
Similar: The new $100 bill will more closely reflect the colorful Euro note
HISTORY OF 'BENJAMIN'S BILL'
The first $100 United States bill was issued in 1862.
In 1929, all U.S. currency was changed to its current size from the much larger bills of earlier.
In July 1969, the Federal Reserve announced it was taking large denominations of U.S. currency out of circulation.
The $100 bill was the largest denomination left after the $500, $1,000 , $5,000 and $10,000 bills were retired.
The $100 bills are often referred to as 'Benjamins' because of the use of Benjamin Franklin's portrait.
It is one of just two denominations which are printed today which does not feature a U.S. President. The other is the $10 bill.
The new features include a blue, 3-D security ribbon and a disappearing Liberty Bell in an inkwell that switches color from copper to green when tilted. It also boasts a large '100' that also shifts colors when the viewing angle is tilted.
The decision to bring in the new note is a bold step for the U.S, which is normally slow to change its currency.
The $100 bill - which is the largest denomination left in circulation - had its last makeover in 1996 and is the last note to undergo an extensive redesign.
With much of the current currency in the U.S. looking extremely similar, the new note is bound to provoke debate because of its changing colors.
The revamped bill had been expected to go into circulation in February 2011. But in December 2010, officials announced an indefinite delay.
They said they needed more time to fix production issues that left unwanted creases in many of the notes.
‘We made numerous process changes to address the creasing issue and we are back in full production,’ said Dawn Haley, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
Coveted banknote: The $100 bill is the highest value denomination in general circulation and the most frequent target of counterfeiters
Security specs: The revamped note incorporates added features to thwart counterfeiters, such as a blue, 3-D security ribbon and a disappearing Liberty Bell in an inkwell that switches color from copper to green when tilted
$100 BILL'S HIGH-TECH FEATURES:
Bell in the inkwell changes from green to copper when titled
3-D blue security ribbon woven into paper, not printed
Portrait watermark visible from either side
Large gold 100 helps the visually impaired
New vignette back of Independence Hall
Haley said those changes include modifying the paper feeder on printing presses to accommodate variations in the paper associated with the 3-D security ribbon. The blue security ribbon is composed of thousands of tiny lenses.
Those lenses magnify the objects underneath them to make them appear to be moving in the opposite direction from the way the bill is being moved.
Benjamin Franklin's portrait will remain on the $100 bill. Another security strip, visible to the left of Franklin's head when the note is held up to light, is embedded into the fabric.
Preventive measures: The $100 bill is the last to undergo an extensive redesign aimed at thwarting counterfeiters who have access to ever-more sophisticated copying machines
Like the old note, the new one has a watermark of Franklin's portrait, also visible when held up to light.
The banknote is the highest value denomination in general circulation and the most frequent target of counterfeiters due to its broad circulation overseas.
The $100 bill, which had its last makeover in 1996, is the last note to undergo an extensive redesign aimed at thwarting counterfeiters who have access to ever-more sophisticated copying machines.
In recent years, U.S. officials have been trying to combat the continued production of extremely high-quality counterfeit $100 notes they say are produced in North Korea, dubbed the 'supernote,' which are undetectable to nearly all but the most sophisticated currency experts.
The U.S. Secret Service, the agency charged with policing the integrity of the nation's currency, maintains that only a tiny fraction of a percent of currency in circulation is counterfeit. But Secret Service officials have said they still encounter supernotes and other highly sophisticated fakes from overseas.
The redesigns began in 2003 when the government added splashes of color to the $20 bill. That makeover was followed by redesigns for the $50, $10 and $5 bills. The $1 bill isn't getting a makeover.
An extensive public education effort is planned for businesses and consumers around the world to raise awareness of the new design and provide information on how to use the new security features.
The billions of older-design $100s already in circulation will remain legal tender after the new notes are released. The old notes will be destroyed and replaced as they pass through the Fed system.
The Fed has set a target date of October 8.