The Federal Reserve unveiled a new design for the United States $100 bill. While the new bill retains the traditional look of U.S. currency, it was loaded with “advanced technology to combat counterfeiting,” according to a statement by the Fed.
There key security features in the redesigned $100 note include a 3-D Security Ribbon and a Bell in the Inkwell, according to the Fed – security features that aimed to make it easy for consumers and merchants to authenticate their currency.
Elaborating on the technology, the Fed explained that the blue 3-D Security Ribbon on the front of the new $100 note contained images of bells and 100s that “move and change from one to the other as you tilt the note,” and the Bell in the Inkwell on the front of the note changed colour from copper to green when the note was tilted.
Treasurer Rosie Rios said, “The new security features announced today come after more than a decade of research and development to protect our currency from counterfeiting.” She added that the government would conduct a global public education programme to ensure a seamless introduction of the new $100 note into the financial system and spread awareness of the new security features.
Speaking on the occasion Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said, “This job has become more complex in recent years as technology advances and U.S. dollar flows expand and increase.” In just the past 25 years, the value of Fed notes in circulation grew from $180 billion to $890 billion, an increase of almost 400 percent, he noted, adding that approximately two-thirds of all $100 notes circulated outside U.S. borders.
Mr. Bernanke said that the global public education program was crucial to the successful introduction of the new $100 note, because “a well-informed public is our first and best line of defence against counterfeiting.” He further explained that when the new-design $100 note is issued on February 10, 2011, the approximately 6.5 billion older-design $100s already in circulation would remain legal tender.
Touching upon the serious threat of counterfeiting Director Mark Sullivan of the Secret Service said, that his agency had learned to evolve to keep pace with the “advanced methodologies employed by the criminals we pursue.” Although less than 0.01 percent of the value of all U.S. currency in circulation is reported counterfeit, the $100 note is the most widely circulated and most often counterfeited denomination outside the U.S., he noted.
