New $100 Bill Design & Release Date 2013: Revamped Benjamins Are Harder to Counterfeit, and Harder to Look At
The United States is finally unveiling its first redesigned $100 bill since 1996.
The much-anticipated new bills, which are supposed to help defend against counterfeit money, were announced in 2010 but clearly suffered some delays and setbacks.
Some reports are saying that the new Benjamins could be distributed in banks on Tuesday at the earliest but that it would likely take some time for the bills to reach ATM machines and cash registers.
According to a chart in USA Today, there will be a 3D strip running down the middle of the bill that displays different designs depending on which angle the bill is viewed from; turning it back and forth will make bells appear to change to 100s, while moving the bill from side to side will make the bells appear to move up and down. A small bell in the "inkwell," which is in the bottom middle of the bill, can now change colors from copper to green when tilted. Lastly, a special security thread on the left of the bill will read "USA" and "100" when it is in the light.
USA Today also points out that, for the first time, the currency will have "raised printing."
The overhaul is much more detailed and complex when compared to the changes made in 1996, which featured only an increase in Franklin's head size as well as a watermark.
All in all, the bills look cleaner and more polished but the purple 3D mark in the middle stands out like a sore thumb. Perhaps it would have been a better idea to make it wrap around the bill instead of slicing it through the middle, but the security, of course, is the entire point of it -- not design.