U.S. financial authorities showed on Wednesday its new $100 bill, which contains more security tools to combat counterfeiting.
The old bills will remain in circulation even when the new 100 dollar bill start to move in February 2011, explained senior officials of the US Treasury and Federal Reserve.
The new 100 dollar bill retains the traditional look, with the portrait ofBenjamin Franklin, but contains a security tape alternating three-dimensional images of bells and the number 100 is tilted to change the viewing angle.
It also has the image of a bell in the front that changes from copper color to green when tilted.
“Like the previous redesigns of U.S. currency, this bill incorporates the best technology available to ensure that we stay ahead of counterfeiters,” he said in a statement Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
The new $100 bill is the most counterfeited outside the United States because of its wide circulation.
In recent years, authorities have tried to fight a high-quality counterfeit $100 notes, according to research that would be in North Korea. These counterfeit notes are called “super notes” and are virtually undetectable, even for experts.
The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, said in a statement that unlike the past when the majority of dollar bills circulating in the United States, now nearly two thirds of the 890 billion dollars in banknotes circulate outside the country.
Bernanke said the authorities will work to inform people around the world about the new design and stressed that the old bills will continue to circulate.
“It’s important to understand that when the new ticket is issued on February 10, 2011, the nearly 6,500 million dollars in $100 bills with the old design still in circulation will remain a legal tender,” said Bernanke.
The Fed chief added that the new 100 dollar bill was important for the U.S. economy.
“A strong currency is a pillar of a strong economy. Therefore, the Government of the United States must stay ahead of counterfeiters and protect the integrity of our currency,” he said.
