Ben Franklin Gets a Facelift: New 100 Dollar Bill Introduced
The redesigned 100 dollar note, the last in the Next Generation Currency series, rolls out on October 8. Extra Credit looks at the bill’s new security features and puts it in historical perspective.
That image of Benjamin Franklin that graces the $100 bill is fitting. He was a successful printer who advocated for a paper money system and who printed money for Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey in the 1700s. Benjamin Franklin also invented an early anti-counterfeiting technique.
On October 8, 2013, Ben Franklin will be getting a facelift. On this day, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) will introduce the redesigned $100 note, which will have new advanced security features to make the new bill more difficult to counterfeit. New currency designs are introduced every seven to 10 years to protect the integrity of our money and the economy. A new $5 bill was introduced in 2008, a $10 bill in 2006, a $50 bill in 2004, and a $20 note in 2003. You do not need to trade in your old $100 notes for the new ones—all U.S. currency issued since 1861 is legal tender and redeemable at full face value.
Protecting money against counterfeiting
Among the most advanced features of the bill are the three-dimensional security ribbon and the bell in the inkwell. When you tilt the note, the bell in the inkwell changes color from copper to green, which makes the bell look like it is appearing and then disappearing. When you tilt the new note up and down, you see the bells printed in the ribbon change to the number 100 as they move from side to side. When you move the note from side to side, you see the bells shift up and down. The security ribbon, instead of being printed on the note, is actually woven into the bill.
Other security features of the bill include:
- A watermark of Ben Franklin, which you can see on both sides of the note.
- A security thread imprinted with the letters “USA” and the number 100, which run in an alternating pattern. When you hold the note under an ultraviolet light, the security thread glows pink. Like the watermark, you can see these features on both sides.
- A number 100 in the lower right corner of the bill’s front side that changes from copper to green when you tilt the bill.
- Raised printing and a large gold figure 100 on the back. These features make the bill easier to identify, especially for those with visual impairments.
- Microprinting in various locations on the bill. The words “United States of America” can be found around Ben Franklin’s collar, “USA 100” around the blank space for the watermark, “One Hundred USA” around the golden quill, and small 100s in the borders of the note. Notes printed at the BEP’s Fort Worth office have a small “FW” in the top left corner on the front of the note, just to the right of the number 100. Notes printed at the Bureau’s Washington, DC, location do not have this feature.
Because advanced copying technologies such as color copiers and inkjet printers in the nineties increased the incidence of counterfeiting, advanced security features were added to currency beginning in 1996. The new $100 bill completes what is called the “Next Generation Currency” series, begun in 2003 with the $20 note. Currently, there are no plans to redesign the $1 or $2 bills.
