New $100 Bill Looks Like Something Straight Out of Hogwarts

By Alex in Money & Finance, Pictures on Apr 21, 2010 at 12:23 pm

The familiar pictures of Founding Father Ben Franklin is still there, but there are a lot of new high-tech features being put in the new $100 bill, including a moving microprint that "looks like something straight out of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry":

The blue 3-D Security Ribbon on the front of the new $100 note contains images of bells and 100s that move and change from one to the other as you tilt the note. The Bell in the Inkwell on the front of the note is another new security feature. The bell changes color from copper to green when the note is tilted, an effect that makes it seem to appear and disappear within the copper inkwell.

“The new security features announced today 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,” said Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios. (Source)

Why the redesign? While security and protection against forgery is always a concern for any currency, the failure of the US Government to stem the rise of the Superdollar – a counterfeit so well done that it’s almost impossible to detect – is to blame.

Tags: 100 dollar note, Benjamin Franklin, counterfeit, forgery, Howgarts, money, Superdollar

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imaeechoo
Apr 21st, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Check out this blog for more photos and articles:

<a href="http://new100bill.blogspot.com/"http://new100bill.blogspot.com
Naomi
Apr 21st, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I don’t get what the big deal is. Canadian bills have had similar security features since 2004 http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/banknotes/
felixthecat
Apr 21st, 2010 at 1:26 pm
“The new security features announced today come after more than a decade of research and development to protect our currency from counterfeiting.”

The report continues: “Counterfeits of the new $100 bill were on the streets of all major world cities within an hour of the announcement.”
c0ldfish
Apr 21st, 2010 at 1:53 pm
that looks so baller
Shaun
Apr 21st, 2010 at 3:23 pm
I’m hoping that photo is just showing off the features and that the ugly purple stripe and the yellow blobs don’t appear in normal light. The inkwell sticks out way too much though.
graymccarty
Apr 21st, 2010 at 4:17 pm
The US is WAY behind on this stuff – Canada has been doing this for years, so it’s funny to see people reacting to this ‘news’
Rocky
Apr 21st, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Naomi, we still have to wrestle with knowing we call our dollar coins “loonies” and “toonies.” We have our own problems.

I think our reflective stripe has a little more dignity than the new C-note design. It’s more off to the side and it looks silly broken up.
Vonskippy
Apr 21st, 2010 at 7:41 pm
So when will it hit the streets?
Naomi
Apr 21st, 2010 at 7:55 pm
@Rocky Oh I know, no disagreement there. What would they have called the five dollar coin if it had passed public approved? The security stripe placement does look rather silly.
pignose baby
Apr 21st, 2010 at 8:03 pm
We are Specimen
We are Spacemen
We are Devo

Not EVEN worth a non-existant iphone4.

I wonder how bad counterfeiting is with U.S. bills these days, or does this reflect updating intelligence of tools?
Hector Gomez
Apr 21st, 2010 at 9:49 pm
So, can I still spend a hundred dollar bill printed in the years before all of these security features were added to US currency?

Yes?

Then why not counterfeit the old stuff, if you intend to counterfeit at all? It seems that it would be a lot easier to print up a bunch of 70s and 80s vintage hundreds, artificially age them, and pass those instead of trying to duplicate all the new bells & whistles.
B.M.
Apr 22nd, 2010 at 3:56 am
All U.S. currency is counterfeit. The world seems to be noticing this fact.
chrome
Apr 22nd, 2010 at 5:54 am
Weak..

Both in value and design.
Hal (GT)
Apr 22nd, 2010 at 7:50 am
LOL re: chrome.

That’s why I favor the shiny metals instead.
Detroit Mac
Apr 22nd, 2010 at 9:02 am
Once again… am I the only one who feels that US currency looks like it was designed by somebody at a Quick Print Shop? Compared to Swiss Francs, for example, there is no beauty or rational design to be found… just security features and crappy typography.
abdulhamid
Apr 22nd, 2010 at 6:40 pm
At this point our paper money is as good as Monopoly money; it might as well look the part.
Britt
Apr 22nd, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Agree with the comments about Canadian notes. On the other hand, how is this ‘straight out of Hogwarts’? It’s not exactly an enchanted, animated image.
Simon Russell
Apr 23rd, 2010 at 2:20 am
@Hector Gomez
Other countries phase out old notes as they wear out. They also make them illegal tender a period after a new design is introduced.

I assume the US do, and would do the same; although not being American, I don’t know.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re something out of Hogwarts though. As people have suggested, there are some weirder and wonderfuler(sik) notes around the world employing interesting security and design measures.
Will (the other one)
Apr 23rd, 2010 at 7:42 am
@Simon Russell
No, the US doesn’t de-monetize currency. If you have a pre-1920′s horseblanket note, you can still use it as legal tender. It is a policy that is meant to testify to the stability of the US economy.

As old notes pass through the Federal Reserve system they can be pulled out of circulation. Likewise, collectors tend to take older designs out of circulation. Before long, only the new designs are in everyday use.
Alex
Apr 23rd, 2010 at 10:42 am
@Hector Gomez – although old notes are still legal tender, as the new note becomes predominant in the market, it will be hard to move large quantities of fake old notes.
Trevor J. Murphy
Apr 23rd, 2010 at 11:56 am
To learn more about security features, anti-counterfeiting measures and banknotes, visit http://www.globalpapersecurity.com
ted
Apr 24th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Am I the only one wondering what Ben Franklin is actually thinking in that picture?

Looks a little nervous.

He’s got sort of a “Well, here I am on the $100 bill again. Sorry…”

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