Fun 3-D holograms give Mr. Ben Franklin a facelift for the new decade.
Posted 04.21.2010 at 1:10 pm
13 Comments
New Benjamin
A founding father gets a new look on the new $100 bill
U.S. Treasury
A running battle between the U.S. Treasury and the counterfeiting efforts of drug lords and North Korea just got even more high-tech, with 3-D interactivity. Now everyone can check the authenticity of their Benjamins, courtesy of color-changing and moving images of bells and numbers.
The first new security component comes from a 3-D security ribbon on the front of the new $100, which contains the previously-mentioned images of bells and numeral 100s that move as the bill gets tilted from side to side. A second new feature known as the "Bell in the Inkwell" makes a bell change color from copper to green based on its tilt. That makes it seem to disappear at times within the copper inkwell.
Those join previously existing security measures, such as the portrait watermark of Benjamin Franklin, the security thread, and the color-shifting numeral 100.
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Technology, Jeremy Hsu, 100 dollar bills, 100s, benjamins, counterfeit, counterfeiting, currency, dollars, money, U.S. treasuryWe previously took a tour of the old $100 bill's flaws, and examined the counterfeiting problem facing the U.S. Treasury. There's about $70 million worth of fake U.S. currency out and about at any given time, 75 percent of which is in $100 bills. Let's hope Ben's facelift can do something about that.
For more interactive fun, check out NewMoney.gov here.
Benjamin's Back: U.S. Treasury
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That Ben guy is a total whack job!
It seems like we get new money designs every other year nowadays. We used to have the same design for decades.
I put the blame squarely on Photoshop or whatever computer witchery they used.
I'm not too crazy about that blue (3-D security) ribbon in the middle of the bill. They could've done something a little more fitting to the design.
Whatever ... I hardly ever have actual physical dollars in my wallet anyway.
@kormiko, forget Photoshop...photocopiers were able to take down the old designs. Anyway, it's been 14 years since the $100 bill was changed. That's a heck of a long time in modern technology terms.
RunAmuck you can go screw yourself. He is one of our great Founding Fathers who helped make this great country. sad thing that liberals like you have to disgrace and not even care for the plans of our Founding Fathers and just throw their ideals that have proved to work better than anything else for hundreds of years. we need to change our education system. there needs to be a much stronger focus on history (esp our country's history) since obviously people have forgotten what it means to be American.
I'd like to volunteer to test out these new bills. Any treasury officials out there reading this, please know that you may send me cases of these new bills at any time. I will evaluate them and send you a complete and detailed report on my analysis.
rogueagent123 -- First of all, calm down. Secondly, I don't see how you surmised that RunAmuck is a liberal. I'm guessing that you are either Rush Limbaugh himself, or a big fan of his since you obviously harbor strong negative feelings towards liberals. It always amuses me when conservatives talk about freedom and patriotism. Every stance they take, except for gun control, is about taking freedoms away from people. (abortion, gay marriage, patriot act, anti-healthcare, etc). Try to remember that this country was founded on the principals of liberty and equality, not religious dogma and fear/hate-mongering. I don’t agree with your views, but I’m glad you are able to share them. Just try to understand the people you have so much anger for, and maybe you will find that they don’t deserve your harsh feelings/words as much as the conservative talk show hosts want you to believe.
The new $100 bill is a good step forward, but it still looks like a halfway measure. Why is the design of US currency so conservative? The rest of the world uses a lot more color and bolder graphics, and more countries are now using money printed on tough, transparent plastic using Australian technology. It is much harder to counterfeit these and plastic money is not affected by being soaked in water and is quite remarkably hard to damage. Having the $100 paper bill looking similar to old designs, while having a few modern touches here and there just doesn't feel right. A total redesign and rethink would have been a braver, more forward-looking step.
Copy+Paste+Print...
BOOOya!
rogue - Total joke dude. You've got to lighten up there bud! I'm so red blooded American it aint even funny. Take a week off.
marcus M - Just an FYI, money is not made out of paper. It is a blend of linen and cotton.
Franklin was a liberal.
Revolution is a phenomenon of the Left, not the Right.
Franklin didn't support the Crown as did the traditionalist, conservative Tories -- who were opposed to radical liberalism. Look them up.
Yours truly,
24 year veteran and Commissioned Officer in the US Army, son of an Officer, 7th generation in an unbroken line of males who have served in the Army since the Revolutionary war.
Sons of the American Revolution
Society of the War of 1812
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
Sons of the Spanish American War
Life Member of the VFW
The new $100 bill is an improvement, but not two years ago a new was was already issued, but the fact remains is that there are one too many 10 to 15 year old bills in circulation and these banks keep on circulating these old ones over and over.