New $100 Bill Debuts: Currency Out Tuesday

Finally, after years of planning, the new $100 bill debuts Tuesday. The new American currency was supposed to be released in 2011 but was delayed due to some printing problems.

CNN:

The new bill has several features designed to make it easier for the public to authenticate but more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate. Those measures include a blue, 3-D security ribbon, as well as color-shifting ink that changes from copper to green when the note is tilted. That ink can be found on a large “100” on the back of the bill, on one of the “100’s” on the front, and on a new image of an ink well that’s also on the front.

The image of Benjamin Franklin will be the same as on the current bill, but like all the other newly designed currencies, it will no longer be surrounded by an dark oval. Except for the $1 and $2 bill, all U.S. paper currency has been redesigned in the last 10 years to combat counterfeiting.

The older $100 notes will eventually get returned to the Federal Reserve, where they will be destroyed.