Federal Reserve Begins Circulating New $100 Bills
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Federal dollars are at the heart the contentious battle over the federal government shutdown right now, but that wasn't stopping the Federal Reserve from rolling out new $100 bills on Tuesday.
WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports the Federal Reserve is not affected by the shutdown – now in its 7th day – and moved forward with circulation of the new C-notes. It's the first facelift for the Benjamin since 1996.
At the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, officials were showing off the new $100 notes, designed to make it tougher for counterfeiters to pass off fake bills.
Fed Shows Off New $100 Bill
Donna Dziak, Vice President of District Cash Operations for the Federal Reserve said the new design is the result of advanced technology aimed at foiling counterfeiters.
"What we're trying to do with the new security features is really stay ahead of the counterfeiters, so we have new sophisticated security features to be able to do that," she said.
Those features include a holographic Liberty Bell and ink well that change colors or disappear as you tilt the bill in different directions, new splashes of color, and a new 3-D security ribbon.
Although the Fed has gone to so much troulbe to thwart counterfeiters, Dziak insisted fake money is no longer a huge problem.
"We process approximately 10 million notes a day, and we get about 20 counterfeits a day," she said.
The new bills will be delivered to banks around the country by armored trucks. The bills took more than a decade to develop, and were delayed 2 ½ years by production problems, which have since been fixed.
Unless you specifically request one from your bank, it might take a while before you run across a new $100 bill in general circulation.
