The new $100 US bill will go into circulation on February 10, 2011.
It is being put forward as a new form of currency with stronger anti-counterfeiting measures to help stem the tide of non-official monetary expansion.
I suspect at some point it will facilitate a 'recall' of the old notes, as a means of combating cash and carry businesses and money laundering. It will also seek to unhinge cash hoarding overseas tied to the drug trade.
It has not been announced if these bills will be carrying an expiration date to insure freshness.
Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner will be auctioning the crayons he used to sign his name to the bill on eBay to help defray the national debt. His handle is 2RB-O-TimEE.
New Money Homepage
Wall Street Journal
U.S. Unveils New $100 Bill
By
DARRELL A. HUGHES
April 21, 2010
WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke unveiled a new $100 bill equipped with two new security features.
The bill will go into circulation Feb. 10, 2011.
The Fed, along with the Treasury Department, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Secret Service, "continuously monitor the counterfeiting threats" for each denomination and redesign decisions are made based on those threats, Mr. Bernanke said.
"This job has become more complex in recent years as technology advances and U.S. dollar flows expand and increase," he added.
The bill—the highest denomination of all U.S. notes—circulates widely around the world, with circulation in the past 25 years growing to $890 billion from $180 billion.
About two-thirds of all $100 notes circulate outside the U.S.; Mr. Bernanke said the agencies must ensure people around the world are aware of the design change. Over the next several months, officials at the agencies will work to educate cash handlers,
consumers and others about the design and explain how to use its security features.
The 6.5 billion or so $100 notes in circulation now will remain legal tender, Mr. Bernanke said.
The new bill's security features include a blue 3-D Security Ribbon on the front of the note that contains images of bells and 100s, which move and change from one to the other as you tilt the note, according to joint release from the agencies.
Another security feature is the "Bell in the Inkwell" image that changes color from copper to green when the note is tilted, an effect that makes it appear and disappear within the inkwell. (For more on the redesigned note and its features, visit www.newmoney.gov.)
"As with previous U.S. currency redesigns, this note incorporates the best technology available to ensure we're staying ahead of counterfeiters," Mr. Geithner said.
The new design for the $100 note retains three effective security features from the previous design: the portrait watermark of Benjamin Franklin, the security thread, and the color-shifting numeral 100.
