The U.S. on Tuesday is unveiling a new $100 bill, a note that still will show touches of long-standing tradition, but also will carry new markers in an attempt to thwart counterfeiters.
The $100 bill is the most global bank note the U.S. prints, with one-half to two-thirds of the more than 8 billion in circulation in use outside the United States.
Like the current greenish $100 bill, the new one on one side will bear the likeness of Benjamin Franklin, a leader in the American Revolution more than two centuries ago. On the other side it will have a picture of Independence Hall in the eastern city of Philadelphia.
The new note also will have a yellowish "100" in one corner, though, and next to Franklin, a tan quill and bronze-color inkwell. A drawing of the Philadelphia Liberty Bell is inside the inkwell, and it changes colors from darker brown to green depending on what angle the note is held. There also is a blue security ribbon cutting vertically through the bill that shows "100" and smaller Liberty Bells in darker blue.
Government officials say the new note was designed primarily to combat increasingly sophisticated counterfeiting, although the older ones in circulation will continue to be honored. The U.S. over the last decade has redesigned all of its currency, except for $1 and $2 bills.
The $100 bill is the most global bank note the U.S. prints, with one-half to two-thirds of the more than 8 billion in circulation in use outside the United States.
Like the current greenish $100 bill, the new one on one side will bear the likeness of Benjamin Franklin, a leader in the American Revolution more than two centuries ago. On the other side it will have a picture of Independence Hall in the eastern city of Philadelphia.
The new note also will have a yellowish "100" in one corner, though, and next to Franklin, a tan quill and bronze-color inkwell. A drawing of the Philadelphia Liberty Bell is inside the inkwell, and it changes colors from darker brown to green depending on what angle the note is held. There also is a blue security ribbon cutting vertically through the bill that shows "100" and smaller Liberty Bells in darker blue.
Government officials say the new note was designed primarily to combat increasingly sophisticated counterfeiting, although the older ones in circulation will continue to be honored. The U.S. over the last decade has redesigned all of its currency, except for $1 and $2 bills.
