A while back, I wrote about the magical $100 bills from my childhood. Yes, I’m dating myself. Back then, when even a lowly dollar seemed like a lot of money, seeing a “C-Note,” “Benjamin,” “Jolly Green Giant” or whatever someone called the mystical one-hundred-dollar paper bill, made a child’s imagination spin....
I don’t mean to dismiss today’s “new” $100 bill. Yet, in fairness, they have become somewhat “common.” Consider that, just 60 years ago, in 1963, the US printed fewer than 40 million $100 bills. By 2013, that number had soared to over 40 billion. As of last year, the number of “Bennies” printed was north of 45 billion. Thanks in part to the illegal drug trade – our $100 bill is now the most populous paper currency in the world.
Another massive difference from a half-century ago is the science of printing. Forgery used to be an art known to but a few. Today’s copying technology has changed all that. Color copiers could threaten our national security. Happily, most all new copiers are required to have technology embedded in them that will not allow the reproduction of US paper money.
Currency collectors are intrigued with the clever anti-counterfeiting measures the government has incorporated into all our new bills – most especially the $100 note. If you happen to have a “C-Note,” take a peek at some of these foiling features.
1.A blue, three-dimensional, holographic security ribbon is woven into the fabric of the paper.
2. You’ll find another security strip to the left of Franklin's face. This one is plastic, is actually in the paper and is only visible when held up to the light.
3. The blank oval on the right side of the bill reveals a watermark image of Ben's face.
4. The image of bells and the number “100” change color as the viewing angle is tilted.
5. A larger image of the Liberty Bell inside an ink well on the front changes from copper to green when the bill is tilted.
6. A much larger image of the number "100" on the back of the bill also changes color and is big enough to assist those with visual impairments.
7. When touching the bill, raised "intaglio" printing gives it a distinctive texture.
8. You’ll need a magnifying glass for this last one. The words, "The United States of America" on Ben's collar, "USA 100" on the watermark, and "ONE HUNDRED USA" along the golden quill are all super-microprinted. Standard printing presses can’t duplicate this tiny typeface.
These are just a few of the modifications incorporated to thwart counterfeiting. It would take incredibly advanced printing, paper production and manufacturing techniques to duplicate the bills. Unfortunately, there are foreign countries I will leave unnamed (think large errant floating “weather” balloons) with the technology to do just that.
Counterfeiting money has long been an effective tool warring enemies have used against each other. During the Revolutionary War, in the late-1770s, the British tried to flood the US colonies with fake Continental Currency to ruin our economy. They came frighteningly close.
During WWII the table’s turned. In 1943, the Nazis launched Operation Bernhard against England – the largest counterfeiting effort in history. In that case, Germany forced prisoners at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp to produce and print one million fake pound notes per month with plans to inundate Britain with them. The prisoner’s work was excellent and the fakes impeccable allowing the operation to almost succeed. Distribution was the fly in the ointment. Later, most of the bills were destroyed. Today, collectors pay hundreds of dollars for one of those counterfeit bank notes in good condition.
Here’s the conundrum for the new US $100 bills – earlier bills made before the modern anti-counterfeiting measures have never been recalled. Millions upon millions of those bills are still in circulation. Consequently, counterfeiters can simply make batches of those older notes lacking the advanced anti-counterfeiting devices and keep passing them off.
The US will eventually need to demonetize those $100 bills from the mid-1900s. It won’t be easy. Untold stacks sit in safes and safe deposit boxes throughout the US. Even if there were a 10-year grace period for redeeming them, many would surely remain out there. If that happens, I bet you $100 owners of those straggler bills will be upset.
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