Benjamin Franklin gets a facelift as the Treasury Department just unveiled a new $100 bill, the first remake of the denomination since 1996.
The $100 note is the highest value denomination of U.S. currency in general circulation and 2/3 circulate outside the USA. The denomination is popular when large amounts of cash need to be carried internationally.
Anti-counterfeiting measures are the main reason the United States has been making changes in currency. The currency changes started in 1996 with the $100 bill, followed by a new $20 bill in 2003. The $50 bill got an overhaul in 2004, and the $10 was redesigned in 2006. The $5 bill was upgraded in 2008.
The US government is redesigning the $100 bill to incorporate advances in currency security to make it more difficult to counterfeit and easier for the public to authenticate. The $100 is the highest denomination the US government issues and the most widely circulated outside the US. Although less than 1/100th of 1% of the value of US currency in circulation is reported counterfeit, the $100 note is the most often counterfeited denomination outside the US, according to the US Treasury department.
The new security features added to the $100 bill will help people spot bogus bills. The new security features include:
1. a 3-D security ribbon that runs vertically across the note, with images of bells that turn into 100’s and back into bells as the note is tilted back and forth;
2. and a bell within the inkwell, found on the front of the note, whose color turns to green from copper as the note is tilted.
3. The new note retains the old bill’s security features that have been found effective against counterfeiting: a portrait watermark of Benjamin Franklin, whose image graces the front, that is visible on both sides;
4. a security thread running vertically through the note which glows pink when exposed to ultraviolet light; and
5. the number 100 on the face of the bill that turns to green from copper when the note is tilted.
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