New $100 Bill With Security Features Unveiled

Federal authorities on Wednesday joined to unveil the new hundred dollar bill, a bill that will combine the usual portrait of Ben Franklin, and some previously added security enhancements, with a pair of brand new, advanced counterfeit-deterrent security features.

The government's new design of the $100 bill combines a portrait of Benjamin Franklin and some security enhancements.

Treasury, and the U.S. Secret Service, and features a blue three-dimensional security ribbon and an interpretation of the classic liberty bell image which, when tilted, changes colors from copper to green, making the bell appear to disappear and reappear in an inkwell.

U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios said these new security features "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 continue global public education of retailers, financial institutions and industry organizations to ensure that consumers and merchants are aware of the new security features," she added.

A watermark portrait of Ben Franklin, a security thread, and a large, color-shifting "100" have been carried over from the previous design, and the new $100 bill will also includes phrases from the Declaration of Independence and a newly designed, larger image of Independence Hall.

The $100 bill "is the most widely circulated and most often counterfeited denomination outside the U.S.," according to the release.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the 6.5 billion $100s that are currently in circulation "will remain legal tender," adding that "U.S. currency users should know they will not have to trade in their old design notes when the new notes begin circulating."

Exactly when the new notes will be circulated has not yet been determined.

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