$100 bill will get a high-tech facelift

WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) — The U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday the new $100 bill, due to begin circulation in October, will be much harder to counterfeit than the current version.

Other common denominations — the $5, $10, $20, and $50 bills — have undergone face lifts meant to thwart counterfeiters.

The new $100 bill — scheduled to begin circulating Oct. 8 — will have a 3D security ribbon and a depiction of the Liberty Bell in an inkwell that changes when a viewer changes angles to look at the bill.

“Look for an image of a color-shifting bell, inside a copper-colored inkwell, on the front of the new $100 note,” the Fed said in a statement. “Tilt it to see the bell change from copper to green, an effect which makes the bell seem to appear and disappear within the inkwell.”

A vertical thread becomes visible when the note is held up to the light. The thread is embedded with the letters USA and the numeral 100 in an alternating pattern, and glows pink when held under an ultraviolet light, the Fed said.

There is a numeral 100 in the bottom right corner that also changes color as the bill is shifted.

And, if that is enough to make it tough on counterfeiters, Benjamin Franklin’s right shoulder on the bill is rough to the touch, “a result of the enhanced intaglio printing process,” the Fed said.