$100 Bill, To Be Redesigned and Ready By October, New Technology to Deter Counterfeiting Attempts

The Federal Reserve announced today that redesigned $100 bills will be in circulation beginning this Fall, more than two years after the original target.

This is only the fourth time in history that there will be a new design for $100 bill, says to a Fed spokeswoman, according to CNN Money.  It has been revamped three times in the last 20 years alone because the Fed had to react more often to improved counterfeiting technology.

The $100 bill is the highest value denomination in open circulation, according to the International Science Times.  The bill was originally expected to be ready by February 2011.  In December 2010, however, officials involved in the project opted to delay its release in order to address some production issues that had caused unwanted creases on many of the notes.

"We made numerous process changes to address the creasing issue and we are back in full production," said Dawn Haley, spokesperson for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, according to IST.

Haley said that changes needed to be made to the paper feeder in order for the printing press to properly create the new design, IST reported.

The new bill, "features a series of amped-up security measures aimed at combating counterfeiters,"CNN reports.  

This includes a blue, 3-D security ribbon on the front of the bill that moves when the note is tilted back and forth and side to side and the inkwell and bell on the front of the bill as well as the number 100 on the right corner will also have the ability to change from copper to green, to give the illusion of disappearance, when the bill is tilted.

"Intricate changes, the $100 bill redesign features a blue security ribbon that is made up of thousands of microscopic lenses. The lenses on the security ribbon also acts to magnify objects underneath the new $100 bill in order to cause an optical illusion that suggests the bill is moving in the opposite direction of the way it's actually moving," according to IST.

The Federal Reserve says that features such as the cutting edge microscopic lenses on the blue security ribbon will likely deter attempts at counterfeiting and they plan to launch an extensive education program for businesses and consumers all over the world in order to raise awareness and educate businesses about the new design, according to IST.

The new bill is expected to be in circulation beginning on October 8, 2013.