Benjamin Franklin gets a face lift, sort of. The new design for the $100 bill will make its debut Wednesday morning at in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. which will include Dillon native, Federal Reserve Board Chair Ben Bernankie. The U.S. government redesigns currency every seven to 10 years to stay ahead of counterfeiters and protect the public. Michael Lambert, Assistant Director of the Federal Reserve Board, says decisions about the redesign of each denomination are guided by the government’s close evaluation of ongoing counterfeit threats, whether by digital technology or traditional printing presses. Lambert says new security features are mixed with some of the old ones in the printing of currency. However, Lambert says for those who handle money often, like tellers and retailers, the “feel” of the cash is the initial security step:
They can feel the difference in paper. The process that we have includes both a very unique paper which features a cotton and linen blend and high pressure printing. The feel of U.S. currency is rather unique, so a lot of people who are used to handling cash may detect the difference if a bill is suspect and then they can use the security features to see if it’s real.
Lambert says because of the wide circulation of the $100 bill worldwide, free training materials for cash handlers as well as other public resources will be made available for the new $100 bill in 25 languages, beginning Wednesday morning at 10:30.
