New US $100 bill

[Policenaut]

So the new $100 bill has hit youtube -

JwEBIC0a4RY

What is everyone's thoughts about the look and possibly the effectiveness of the new security bits (actually the only new tech seems to be the 3d strip but I might be wrong)? I think the 3d strip looks pretty ugly and breaks up the look of the bill but I haven't seen it in person so it might not look as bad as it does to me in the video.

[Aepervius]

1) oooooh ! Color other than shade of green ! I like !
2) The 3D strip might be the best way to easily find coutnerfeit bill, it looks more difficult to reproduce than the otehr feature, but my guess is that you only need to get it "near" enough to fool a few people, not to fool everybody.
3) did I mention other color than green ?

[ksbluesfan]

Wow, I didn't realize they made bills bigger than a twenty. I hope to see one of those one day.

;)

[Richard Masters]

So the new $100 bill has hit youtube -

JwEBIC0a4RY

What is everyone's thoughts about the look and possibly the effectiveness of the new security bits (actually the only new tech seems to be the 3d strip but I might be wrong)? I think the 3d strip looks pretty ugly and breaks up the look of the bill but I haven't seen it in person so it might not look as bad as it does to me in the video.

Not to be contrarian, but don't these security measures simply delay the amount of time it takes to produce counterfeit currency?

Just the other day I drilled a hole into a boron carbide lock for the first time in less than 15 minutes. It snapped open.

I got locked out of a Pontiac Grand Prix and the AAA locksmith opened it up in 20 minutes, without so much as the alarm going off.

Video games and the latest version of Windows get cracked within days, sometimes hours upon release.

I suppose the point is to stay a step ahead of the "bad guys", but circumventing security seems like a matter of time, unless I'm missing something.

[geni]

Not to be contrarian, but don't these security measures simply delay the amount of time it takes to produce counterfeit currency?

Just the other day I drilled a hole into a boron carbide lock for the first time in less than 15 minutes. It snapped open.

I got locked out of a Pontiac Grand Prix and the AAA locksmith opened it up in 20 minutes, without so much as the alarm going off.

Video games and the latest version of Windows get cracked within days, sometimes hours upon release.

I suppose the point is to stay a step ahead of the "bad guys", but circumventing security seems like a matter of time, unless I'm missing something.

In every case you list the kit needed to break the security is fairly commonly availible. In this case you are looking at replicating a feature rather than breaking security per se and that requires kit most people will not have. The result is that in order to create fake notes you are going to have to aquire said kit which will tend to draw attention to yourself.

[Richard Masters]

In every case you list the kit needed to break the security is fairly commonly availible. In this case you are looking at replicating a feature rather than breaking security per se and that requires kit most people will not have. The result is that in order to create fake notes you are going to have to aquire said kit which will tend to draw attention to yourself.

I suppose there is a big difference between opening a lock and replicating that lock detail by detail.

[RobRoy]

1) oooooh ! Color other than shade of green ! I like !

But not too much more color. Looks a lot like the $20 update. My response is: meh. Still spends the same: too quickly.

[Phi]

No mention of any feature facilitating the blind to be able to differentiate them. I thought they were working on a solution which would be a prominent design feature on any new notes. Forgive me if I'm wrong. Most countries do something. The Euro notes are all different sizes for example.

A blind advocacy group filed a class action lawsuit in 2006 against Target, alleging that the retail giant's web site was inaccessible to the blind and thus violated a California law that incorporates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I wonder why they haven't managed to do anything about the currency.

[Marquis de Carabas]

No mention of any feature facilitating the blind to be able to differentiate them.
We need smarter dogs.

[RobRoy]

We need smarter dogsgods.

Got yer back on this one! I sometimes reverse letters too.

[balrog666]

Not to be contrarian, but don't these security measures simply delay the amount of time it takes to produce counterfeit currency?

Just the other day I drilled a hole into a boron carbide lock for the first time in less than 15 minutes. It snapped open.

I got locked out of a Pontiac Grand Prix and the AAA locksmith opened it up in 20 minutes, without so much as the alarm going off.

Video games and the latest version of Windows get cracked within days, sometimes hours upon release.

I suppose the point is to stay a step ahead of the "bad guys", but circumventing security seems like a matter of time, unless I'm missing something.


They do nothing because all previously issued currency (and equivalent counterfeits) are still valid and acceptable, and will be forever.

[Richard Masters]

They do nothing because all previously issued currency (and equivalent counterfeits) are still valid and acceptable, and will be forever.

Good point.

[lionking]

They do nothing because all previously issued currency (and equivalent counterfeits) are still valid and acceptable, and will be forever.
"Forever"? We changed from paper-based notes to plastic, with strips, holograms and so on (I think I read somewhere that Australia has the most advanced note-making technology in the world, but could be mistaken), while the old notes were withdrawn as they went to banks. I haven't seen a paper note for many years, and I would suggest that anyone who took a heap to a bank now would have them looked at very, very closely.

[Puppycow]

I hope it makes it hard for North Korea to counterfeit it.

[Puppycow]

They do nothing because all previously issued currency (and equivalent counterfeits) are still valid and acceptable, and will be forever.

Forever? Eventually really old paper money will become suspicious at least, and people other than banks may refuse to accept it. And banks will be able to detect counterfeits.

[Tippit]

Not to be contrarian, but don't these security measures simply delay the amount of time it takes to produce counterfeit currency?

Just the other day I drilled a hole into a boron carbide lock for the first time in less than 15 minutes. It snapped open.

I got locked out of a Pontiac Grand Prix and the AAA locksmith opened it up in 20 minutes, without so much as the alarm going off.

Video games and the latest version of Windows get cracked within days, sometimes hours upon release.

I suppose the point is to stay a step ahead of the "bad guys", but circumventing security seems like a matter of time, unless I'm missing something.

What stops the bad guys from printing more legitimate $100 bills?

[drkitten]

What stops the bad guys from printing more legitimate $100 bills?

The fact that in the reality-influenced world, the people who print legitimate $100 bills are not bad guys.

Of course, in your "Federal Reserve Notes are all counterfeit and the only true currency are cowrie shells" Bizarro world, the bad guys wouldn't bother to print $100 bills. They'd be breeding cowries instead.

[Cavemonster]

They do nothing because all previously issued currency (and equivalent counterfeits) are still valid and acceptable, and will be forever.

$100 bills generally last about 7 1/2 years. Much longer than that and bills in the old style will start to look darn suspicious.

[TraneWreck]

I literally cannot wait to dump hadfulls of those over strippers then demand them back after they'e done dancing...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=4333957

[The Central Scrutinizer]

So the new $100 bill has hit youtube -

JwEBIC0a4RY

What is everyone's thoughts about the look and possibly the effectiveness of the new security bits (actually the only new tech seems to be the 3d strip but I might be wrong)? I think the 3d strip looks pretty ugly and breaks up the look of the bill but I haven't seen it in person so it might not look as bad as it does to me in the video.

/Goldtard

You realize that's counterfeit money, right?

/

[The Central Scrutinizer]

I literally cannot wait to dump hadfulls of those over strippers then demand them back after they'e done dancing...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=4333957

I hope that one stripper is pregnant or else she has a heck of a beer gut. :boggled:

[barrymore]

Not to be contrarian, but don't these security measures simply delay the amount of time it takes to produce counterfeit currency?

Just the other day I drilled a hole into a boron carbide lock for the first time in less than 15 minutes. It snapped open.

I got locked out of a Pontiac Grand Prix and the AAA locksmith opened it up in 20 minutes, without so much as the alarm going off.

Video games and the latest version of Windows get cracked within days, sometimes hours upon release.

I suppose the point is to stay a step ahead of the "bad guys", but circumventing security seems like a matter of time, unless I'm missing something.

How is that different than any other security mechanism? That is the definition of security--to delay intruders so that either a.) you catch them in the act, or b.) come out with even more advanced security to delay them again. No security is fool-proof; even 128+ bit encryption is crackable, given enormous amounts of time of course.

Anything that can be engineered by humans can be reverse engineered by humans, almost by definition.

[Frank Newgent]

I hope it makes it hard for North Korea to counterfeit it.


I do business in Indonesia and like to pack big-head 100's when I go.

Two, three, four years ago it was sometimes difficult to cash 1996 series bills. The belief was too many 1996's were North Korean.

Hmm... I have seven 100's with me now: four 2003's, two 1996's, and a 2006.

What's up with some years being so much more common?

[jimbob]

America's Resistance to Multi-Coloured banknotes (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=170640)

"Of the more than 180 countries that issue paper currency, only the United States prints bills that are identical in size and color in all their denominations,... More than 100 of the other issuers vary their bills in size according to denomination, and every other issuer includes at least some features that help the visually impaired." (http://tinyurl.com/yhk7r3x)

In all the recent healthcare debates, one thing has struck me more than anything else: the in-built resistance of the USA to do things as they are done in other countries, even if other nations' systems are better, cheaper and more logical.

The same is true, it seems to me, of the USA's continued resistance to multi-coloured or multi-sized bank-notes. As I understand it, the USA is basically the only country in the world which does not distinguish notes by size and / or colour, a system to be universally accepted as sensible, useful and logical everywhere else. It's actually pretty difficult to be at a bar, say, and having to pull every note from your wallet just to check if it's a single or a twenty. This must be even worse if you're blind.

So, I have basically three questions. What are the historic / political reasons behind this resistance, has there been any discussions about bringing the USA into line with the rest of us, and can a logical case be made for the American status quo?

[Puppycow]

I do business in Indonesia and like to pack big-head 100's when I go.

Two, three, four years ago it was sometimes difficult to cash 1996 series bills. The belief was too many 1996's were North Korean.

Hmm... I have seven 100's with me now: four 2003's, two 1996's, and a 2006.

What's up with some years being so much more common?

Do the 1996's look their age? They would be 14 years old now and Cavemonster said that they only last about 7.5 years on average.

[Frank Newgent]

Do the 1996's look their age? They would be 14 years old now and Cavemonster said that they only last about 7.5 years on average.


Just checked those and some other 100's I took in yesterday (again, all from the years 1996, 2003, and 2006). The 96's look as crisp as the others. Perhaps they were hoarded. Or the NKs use higher quality paper :D

[Puppycow]

Here's how to check:

If You Suspect A Counterfeit (http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/acd/if-you-suspect.shtml)

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Here's how to check:

If You Suspect A Counterfeit (http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/acd/if-you-suspect.shtml)

/Goldtard

If it's issued by the Federal Reserve, it's counterfeit.

/

[Steven Howard]

So the new $100 bill has hit youtube -

JwEBIC0a4RY

What is everyone's thoughts about the look and possibly the effectiveness of the new security bits (actually the only new tech seems to be the 3d strip but I might be wrong)? I think the 3d strip looks pretty ugly and breaks up the look of the bill but I haven't seen it in person so it might not look as bad as it does to me in the video.

Does it play that music? Because while that might be hard to fake, it would also be really annoying every time you opened your wallet.

Says the man who hasn't had a $100 bill in his wallet in the past 20 years.

[Ladewig]

Here's how to check:

If You Suspect A Counterfeit (http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/acd/if-you-suspect.shtml)

I do like this part
Please Note: There is no financial remuneration for the return of the counterfeit bill, but you will have pride in doing the "right thing" [SIC punctuation] to help combat counterfeiting.

[jimbob]

I do like this partHere's how to check:

If You Suspect A Counterfeit (http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/acd/if-you-suspect.shtml)

I do like this part
Please Note: There is no financial remuneration for the return of the counterfeit bill, but you will have pride in doing the "right thing" [SIC punctuation] to help combat counterfeiting.

That is the same in the UK, and I suspect most other places, otherwise someone could just "report" counterfeit notes that their confederates had made.

There has to be an incentive to not accept counterfeit notes, even if it seems a little unfair.

[HonestConman]

What is interesting about the introduction of new bills is that it often leads to a RISE in counterfeits. For a period of months, while people get used to the new bill, it's much easier for a counterfieter to pass off bad fakes.

I have collection of fake Scottish pounds. Only scots are REALLY familiar with them [insert Scottish people are cheap joke here] and yet they are legal tender all over the UK.

[HonestConman]

I should point out my 'collection' is from my work as scam consultant and entertainer...nothing dodgy...

[Soapy Sam]

Q. For how long will existing notes remain legal tender?
I have a couple.
I'd hate for them to evaporate.

[barrymore]

Q. For how long will existing notes remain legal tender?
I have a couple.
I'd hate for them to evaporate.

I will pay you $50 for each C-note you have on hand.

[Blackadder]

I still miss the old fashioned USA bills from around the eighties or so (I used to pay some stuff in cash in $ , before internet payment methods became mainstream)

[Wowbagger]

No mention of any feature facilitating the blind to be able to differentiate them.There is a much more prominent "100" printed down one of the sides, on the back, for those with bad eyesight.

Though, it still won't help the completely blind.

[CORed]

Not to be contrarian, but don't these security measures simply delay the amount of time it takes to produce counterfeit currency?

Just the other day I drilled a hole into a boron carbide lock for the first time in less than 15 minutes. It snapped open.

I got locked out of a Pontiac Grand Prix and the AAA locksmith opened it up in 20 minutes, without so much as the alarm going off.

Video games and the latest version of Windows get cracked within days, sometimes hours upon release.

I suppose the point is to stay a step ahead of the "bad guys", but circumventing security seems like a matter of time, unless I'm missing something.

Since there have been several changes to US currency to add security measures in the last few years, I suspect that there is a significant counterfeiting problem, and that Treasury is trying to stay one step ahead.

[Comrade Raptor]

The only problem with security features is that people are still stupid.

Canada has lots of security features built into the bills now, none of which were apparantly good enough to prevent the bank from giving me obvious counterfeits.

One $20 fake not only had the holo strip badly reproduced in a blotchy inkjet rainbow, but there wasn't even anything printed on the opposite side!

When the bank gives you a one-sided twenty with a very fake holo strip, it does make one question the efficacy of security features.

Oh, and they took the fake twenty all right, and didn't replace it with real money (as noted above). I was not amused, since they gave me the fake bill to begin with.

[ZirconBlue]

Just checked those and some other 100's I took in yesterday (again, all from the years 1996, 2003, and 2006). The 96's look as crisp as the others. Perhaps they were hoarded. Or the NKs use higher quality paper :D

Not all bills are printed every year, and they're not always printed in the same quantities. For example, I think around 2003 was the last time they printed $2 bills. And some bills can remain "uncirculated" for quite some time.

[RobRoy]

Not all bills are printed every year, and they're not always printed in the same quantities. For example, I think around 2003 was the last time they printed $2 bills. And some bills can remain "uncirculated" for quite some time.

Close. In 2006 they printed a new batch of Series 2003 bills.

I had a buddy who used to tip waitresses with $2 bills. I always thought that was pretty cool.

[Jungle Jim]

According to this report: (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33324.pdf)

* $625 Billion in $100 bills are in circulation.
* The above amount represents 73% of the total U.S. currency in circulation
* The U.S. Federal Reserve estimates that between one-half and two-thirds of
U.S. currency is held outside the untied States.

This article (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-hundred_22nat.ART.State.Edition1.4c7f5c0.html) estimates that less the one hundredth of 1 percent of U.S. currency is counterfeit.

[ZirconBlue]

Close. In 2006 they printed a new batch of Series 2003 bills.

Huh. I wonder why they were 2003 series?


I had a buddy who used to tip waitresses with $2 bills. I always thought that was pretty cool.

My grandmother used to send us greeting cards for most holidays, both major and minor, with crisp $2 bills in them (larger denominations for Birthdays and Christmas). I wish I had kept more of them.

[RobRoy]

Huh. I wonder why they were 2003 series?

I believe that was the last time the $2 bill required an update to the plates. But that's just a guess on my part.

My grandmother used to send us greeting cards for most holidays, both major and minor, with crisp $2 bills in them (larger denominations for Birthdays and Christmas). I wish I had kept more of them.

For sentimental reasons, or just to have $2 bills around. Apparently, you can go to any bank and request $2. I understand one of the Apple founders (not Jobs) used to buy uncut sheets, then have them cut and bound like a spiral notebook. He would then rip them off as needed as if from a notepad.

[Harpyja]

How much trouble would it be to add a laminate "100" to the bill, like they did with the liberty bell? So the blind could feel it with their fingers?

[ZirconBlue]

For sentimental reasons, or just to have $2 bills around. Apparently, you can go to any bank and request $2.

I just like them, and think they would have made a cool collection.