New Money design announced

[nym@netcom.com (Sue D. Nym)]

I think this came from a Fidonet channel.

an interesting topic: how will this affect the value of US cash?
i.e. will it affect the value of the dollar worldwide? often when
countries are facing economic trouble they change their currency.

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Conf. : 0008 - FINANCIAL


    WASHINGTON (AP) -- Move over Ben Franklin, tell Andrew Jackson
the news: The portraits on the nation's paper money likely will be
enlarged and moved off-center as part of the first major makeover
in 65 years.
    ``Our plan ... is a pre-emptive step to protect U.S. currency
from high-tech counterfeiting,'' Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen
said in announcing the redesign Wednesday.
    His department plans to have a final design ready sometime in
1995 and begin circulating new bills about a year later, starting
with the most popular target for counterfeiters, $100 notes.
    Nothing has been decided for certain, but Treasury officials
gave the House Banking Committee a rundown Wednesday of what was
likely.
    The enlarged portraits -- Franklin on the $100, Ulysses Grant on
the $50, Jackson on the $20, Alexander Hamilton on the $10, Abraham
Lincoln on the $5 and George Washington on the $1 -- will allow for
more detailed engraving of what is the most recognizable feature on
a bill. The $2 bill, with Thomas Jefferson, is not being
redesigned.
    And, moving the portraits will make room for a watermark in the
form of a smaller version of the portrait, visible only when a bill
is held to the light.
    Other likely changes include:
    -- Color-shifting ink that may, for instance, appear green when
viewed straight on and gold from an angle.
    -- Computer-designed ``interactive'' patterns that turn wavy when
illicitly copied.
    -- Iridescent planchettes in bills' paper. These are colored
discs only a few millimeters wide that reflect light.
    -- Micro-printing and machine-detectable threads or fibers in the
paper.
    The last major change in U.S. currency came in 1929, when bills
were reduced in size and given a uniform look. Congress added the
words ``In God We Trust'' in 1957.
    In 1990, several small changes made it more difficult to
counterfeit with modern color photocopiers. They included adding a
microscopic line of type and a polyester thread visible only when a
bill is held to a light.
    Most lawmakers applauded the latest modifications, saying they
were long overdue.
    ``We must protect the dollar's standing as the world's foremost
currency. Our financial future depends upon it,'' said the
committee chairman, Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, D-Texas.
    But others warned against too radical a redesign, saying it
would send a message of instability at a time when the value of the
dollar is being battered on world currency markets.
    Peter H. Daly, director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing,
said the bills' traditional look will be maintained as much as
possible. The paper will feel the same and the size of notes won't
change. And the same engraving style will be used for portraits,
borders, numbers and the historic scenes on bills' back.
    Bentsen stressed that old money will continue as legal tender.
    ``The redesigned currency will be introduced over a period of
years and no U.S. currency will be demonetized, devalued or
recalled,'' he said.
    And U.S. Treasurer Mary Ellen Withrow promised a worldwide
educational campaign to encourage public acceptance of the new
design.
    About $357 billion of U.S. paper currency is in circulation,
more than 60 percent of it abroad. In fact, in some countries with
troubled economies it serves as the principal medium of exchange.
    According to the Secret Service, counterfeiting abroad now far
outweighs domestic counterfeiting. Last year, $120 million in phony
bills were seized overseas, compared with $44 million domestically,
said Secret Service Deputy Director Guy P. Caputo.
    Republican Reps. Jim Leach of Iowa and Bill McCollum of Florida
suggested the administration may be minimizing the severity of the
problem. Leach said a Middle Eastern country, which he did not
name, reportedly has developed the capacity to counterfeit large
quantities of $100 notes.
    He was apparently referring to trade press reports that Iran was
distributing counterfeit bills through Lebanon.
    But Bentsen stressed that the changes were being made in
anticipation of future problems and not in response to any current
counterfeiting crisis.