Thaindian News

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – Officials of the U.S. Government unveiled the new design for the $100 note, U.S. Department of Treasury said Wednesday.

The new design includes advanced technology to combat counterfeiting, including the 3-D Security Ribbon and the Bell in the Inkwell, which are easy for consumers and merchants to use to authenticate their currency.

The 3-D Security Ribbon located on the front of the new bill contains images of bells and 100s that move and change from one to the other as the note is tilted, and the Bell in the Inkwell, also on the front, changes color from copper to green when the $100 bill is tilted.

However, the note maintains the traditional look of U.S. currency, retaining previous effective security features already implemented on the bill: the portrait watermark of Benjamin Franklin, the security thread, and the color-shifting numeral 100.

“When the new design $100 note is issued on February 10, 2011, the approximately 6.5 billion older design $100s already in circulation will remain legal tender,” said Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Ben S. Bernanke. “U.S. currency users should know they will not have to trade in their older design $100 notes when the new ones begin circulating.”

“The new security features announced today come after more than a decade of research and development to protect our currency from counterfeiting. To ensure a seamless introduction of the new $100 note into the financial system, we will conduct a global public education program to ensure that users of U.S. currency are aware of the new security features,” said Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios.

Less than 1/100th of one percent of the value of all U.S. currency in circulation is reported counterfeit, but the $100 note is the most circulated and most often counterfeited denomination outside the U.S.