The new Benjamins have bling. The Federal Reserve Board calls it introducing new security features to fight counterfeiting. If you tilt the new $100 bills, which begin circulating today, the bell in the inkwell glitters a copper color. (That looks like bling to me.) In addition, the new $100s have a 3-D blue ribbon with 100s printed on it. The figures move when the bill is tilted, and if you want to check it out, the Treasury has an interactive bill posted online.The new version was actually unveiled in 2010, and they are stamped as part of the 2009 series, but there were a few delays in releasing them. "We try and find security features that can be used at a number of different levels, from more experienced cash handlers ... down to the person on the street who really needs to know the security features so they can protect themselves," Michael Lambert, an assistant director at the Federal Reserve Board, told the Associated Press. Because of the new features, the new currency costs about 4 cents more to produce. The total cost is 7.8 cents per $100 bill. The new bills add about $100 million to the total cost of printing currency -- in 2013, the budget is $797.6 million. But don't worry: If you have one of the estimated 65 million old-style $100 bills, they are still official American currency and good for the foreseeable future.
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by Ruth Schneider
Posted on October 8 2013
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