Thursday, April 22, 2010

The New C-Note

The Treasury Department announced yesterday that it will introduce a new high-tech $1oo bill next February, with a Liberty Bell that changes color when you look at it from different angles. The idea is to make the hundred even more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate.

Interestingly enough, the hundred is more popular overseas than it is here at home. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said, "We estimate that two thirds of all $100 notes circulate outside the United States." That's a total of 6.5 billion Benjamins, or $650 billion, of American money in foreign pockets.

It also suggests that holding American hundreds is a choice for these people, who could be carrying around their homeland's money if they so chose. The $100 overhaul may make these bills more secure, and even more attractive, around the world. If so, that's a good reason for the redesign.

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