A new hi-tech $100 banknote comprising several new security features has been issued by the Federal Reserve.
The new banknote includes a blue 3D security ribbon and a bell and inkwell logo that authorities say are particularly difficult to replicate.
These combine with traditional security features, such as a portrait watermark and an embedded security thread that glows pink under ultraviolet light.
The 2010 design was delayed because of “unexpected production challenges”.
The 3D security ribbon – which is woven into the note, not printed on it – features images of 100s that change into bells and move upwards or sideways depending on how you tilt the paper.
Tilting also reveals a green bell within a copper-coloured inkwell to the right of the blue ribbon.
The new banknote includes a blue 3D security ribbon and a bell and inkwell logo that authorities say are particularly difficult to replicate
In addition, the “100” number in the bottom right-hand corner shifts from copper to green.
The redesigned banknote, which features a portrait of Benjamin Franklin, also includes raised “intaglio” printing that gives the notes a distinctive feel, and microprinted words that are difficult to read without magnification.
Over a decade of research and development has gone into the new note, the Fed said, in a joint project with the Secret Service and the Department of the Treasury.
Advances in design software and high-resolution copying and printing have made it easier for counterfeiters to print fake money and harder for retailers to spot the forgeries.
US authorities say that $100 bill is the most counterfeited of all US banknotes, but accurate figures for the total value of counterfeit cash in circulation are hard to come by.
The Secret Service estimates that counterfeit bills account for less than 0.01% of the $1.1 trillion of US money in circulation.
It says about $80.7 million of counterfeit currency changed hands domestically in 2012, and about $14.5 million abroad.
The authorities seized $9.7 million in counterfeit cash before it could make it in to the US money supply, and seized $56.8 million abroad in 2012.
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The first banknotes featuring the face of former President Nelson Mandela have gone into circulation in South Africa.
They are the first South African notes to bear the image of a black person – they replace notes with wild animals and rural and industrial scenes.
President Jacob Zuma says the banknotes were a “humble gesture” to express South Africa’s “deep gratitude”.
Nelson Mandela, 94, is one of the world’s best loved figures after spending 27 years in prison for fighting apartheid.
Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus was the first to use the new banknotes when she spent 160 rand, about $18 on some nuts, beetroot, a watermelon and a cucumber at her local shop in the capital, Pretoria.
She said that Nelson Mandela was delighted with the design.
The first banknotes featuring the face of former President Nelson Mandela have gone into circulation in South Africa
Gill Marcus also noted that South Africa tries to update its currency every seven years for security reasons. The new design includes watermarks and a metal strip, while raised printing was added to assist the visually impaired.
Nelson Mandela’s face is on one side of all the new banknotes, while the “Big Five” animals – lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo and elephant – remain on the reverse.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his campaign against white minority rule and was elected president the following year before stepping down after a single term.
Known affectionately by his clan name “Madiba”, Nelson Mandela has now retired from public life.
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Central Bank of South Africa is to issue a complete set of banknotes bearing the image of its first black president, Nelson Mandela, as a humble gesture to express country’s deep gratitude.
Nelson Mandela, now 93, was released from prison on 11 February 1990 after 27 years in jail.
President Jacob Zuma said the banknotes were a “humble gesture” to express South Africa’s “deep gratitude”.
Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his campaign against white minority rule (apartheid). He was elected president the following year.
Known affectionately by his clan name “Madiba”, Nelson Mandela has now retired from public life.
President Jacob Zuma said Nelson Mandela banknotes are a "humble gesture" to express South Africa's "deep gratitude"
Speaking at the central bank in Pretoria, President Jacob Zuma called Nelson Mandela’s release “the beginning of a new era of hope”.
“With this humble gesture, we are expressing our deep gratitude as the South African people, to a life spent in service of the people of this country and in the cause of humanity worldwide,” President Jacob Zuma said.
Advance notice of the news conference at the central bank had briefly rattled the markets, jittery about the state of South Africa’s economy.
No date for the release of the new notes has yet been announced. Production has already begun, but the latest edition of the currency will only be distributed towards the end of the year.
