New Money

Now I rarely see a $100 "Ben Franklin" but the $100 note is the most widely circulated and most often counterfeited denomination outside the U.S. The U.S. Government has unveiled the new design for the $100 note, due to enter circulation on February 10, 2011.

The new "Franklin's" includes two new security features to combat counterfeiting , a blue 3-D Security Ribbon and a "Bell in the Inkwell" which changes color from copper to green when the note is tilted. The images of bells and 100s contained in the blue 3-D Security Ribbon also changes appearance as the note is tilted thanks to tiny embedded lenses. Both new security features are designed to make it easier for everyone to easily authenticate the bills.

Security features from the current design are retained alongside the new additions: the portrait watermark of Benjamin Franklin, the security thread, and the color-shifting numeral 100.

Other notable features of the new design include a new vignette of Independence Hall on the back, an enlarged portrait of Franklin on the front and phrases from the Declaration of Independence and the quill the Founding Fathers used above the color-changing inkwell.

When the new notes start circulating in 2011, 6.5 billion-odd $100s already in circulation will remain legal tender, so users will not have to trade in their older design notes.

More information on the new note can be found at NewMoney.gov.