Ben Franklin never looked better than last week when a new portrait was unveiled in Washington. Actually, it was an old portrait of a younger Franklin placed in a new high-tech venue.
Old Ben–whose Poor Richard admonished our colonial forefathers and mothers on the necessity for thrift in terms of pennies saved and earned–will grace the $100 bill. Yes, we know Franklin’s picture has appeared on the C-note for decades and have seen an example or two in our lifetime.
This is a new $100 bill being introduced as a first step in a redesign of the nation’s currency aimed at preventing high-tech counterfeiting. The bill will feature a radically enlarged portrait of gentle Ben and a new typeface. However, tradition won’t be overthrown completely. The new bills will remain the same size, and continue using the same color ink printed on the same paper.
The currency will be phased in over the next five years, starting in January when the new $100 bill is put into circulation. It will be followed a year later by a new $50 bill. The other demoninations will be replaced at one-year intervals so that all the nation’s currenc will have been redesigned by 2001.
Security measures being added to the new bills include special printing features, a watermark that’s visible only when held up to a light and ink that changes color when viewed from different angles.
