$50 Bill Gets Colorful, Hi-Tech Makeover

Associated Press via Yahoo ^ | 4/26/04 | JEANNINE AVERSA

[ElkGroveDan]

WASHINGTON - The $50 bill is getting splashes of red, white and blue, the second of the nation's paper currencies to sport new hues beyond the traditional black-ink fronts and green-ink backs.

The makeover, being unveiled Monday, is part of an effort to make U.S. bills harder to counterfeit.

The extra color is subtle, similar to the look of the new $20 bill, which went into circulation last fall with a color treatment featuring touches of peach, blue and yellow.

"The new design is more secure than ever before. We believe it will be extremely effective in discouraging counterfeiters," said Treasury Secretary John Snow. "It's also a lovely piece of currency, maintaining the historic look and feel of a greenback while incorporating the elements of other colors that are very important to us in this country: red, white and blue."

The redesigned $50 is the same size and still features Ulysses S. Grant on the front and the U.S. Capitol on the back.

Some of the old anti-counterfeiting features included in the bill's last makeover, in 1997, were expected to be maintained and improved upon.

They include enhancing some existing security steps, such as an embedded security thread that glows when exposed to an ultraviolet light; watermarks visible when held up to light; and color-shifting ink that looks green when viewed straight on and black when viewed at an angle.

Events to take the wrappers off the new $50 notes were taking place in Washington and in Fort Worth, Texas, where the Bureau of Engraving and Printing expanded its existing production facility and built a tour and visitors center. The new center will allow people to view the production of U.S. greenbacks west of the Mississippi River for the first time, the agency said.

"Adding color is a good idea. It kicks it up a notch and makes it more difficult to counterfeit and adds interest to the bill," said Len Glazer, director of Heritage Currency Auctions in Dallas. "Other countries have been doing it for a very long time."

The bureau expects to print 76.8 million new $50s this year. New bills, however, aren't likely to go into circulation and start showing up in cash registers until fall. Old $50s will continue to be accepted and recirculated until they wear out; they average five years in use.

The bureau also plans to add color to the $100 bill, the most knocked-off note outside the United States. It has not been determined when the new $100 will be unveiled. Officials are still considering whether to redesign $5s and $10s. But $1s and $2s will stay the same because they aren't of much interest to counterfeiters.

Over the years, counterfeiters have graduated from offset printing to increasingly sophisticated color copiers, computer scanners, color ink jet printers and publishing-grade software. Trying to stay a step ahead of the counterfeiters is a challenge, experts said.

"Sophisticated counterfeiting is always going to exist. Whenever there is a way to make money illegally some people will grab for it," Glazer said.

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[ElkGroveDan]

I doubt I'll be seeing one any time soon.

Maybe one of the moderate country club Republican Freepers could describe it for us. (If you were wondering, the one-dollar bills still look the same)

[cyborg]

Why wouldn't you see a fifty dollar bill? LOL

[ElkGroveDan]

I found a sneak peak. A local teenager was on his way to buy tennis shoes and he had a whole roll of them.

[RepubMommy]

Very nice, love the patriotism.

[ALASKA]

My kid wants it back...........

[RicocheT]

We should subcontract out the printing of our dollars to the Russian Mafia (Organizatsiya or Mafyia) and the Chinese Triads as they already make billions of them. So much for the anti-counterfeiting measures.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Very nice, love the patriotism.

Looks French to me.

[JimRed]

All the $20, $50 and $100 bills should have been changed at once, unannounced. The old ones should have become valueless in 60 days, and the exchange process used to identify undeclared income. The entire undergound economy could have been exposed; all the drug dealers and under-the-table illegals would have had to explain the source of their funds.

The savvy big-time criminals would quickly convert the cash to hard goods (gold, diamonds, real estate. etc.) but then the recipient of the cash would have to declare the source.

We've missed a chance to get the bad guys.

Before the flames begin, this falls under the category of "render unto Caesar".

[null and void]

Big images here

[N. Theknow]

Looks like it went through the washer with a red magic marker.

[null and void]

NO US money has ever been declared valueless.

It would be too french, no?

[u-89]

I prefer the more traditional idea of color - gold!

[Revolting cat!]

Boy, aren't you red!

[nothingnew]

"It's also a lovely piece of currency,....

Sheesh. On the new 20, Jefferson looks like a flamer...

FMCDH

[SamAdams76]

Actually I think adding color to the bills makes it easier to get away with counterfeits - at least for the short term. People who are not used to what the new bills should look like are much more likely to accept bogus bills as the genuine article.

[Revolting cat!]

Finally, my investment in a high quality, high output color printer is going to pay off!

[nothingnew]

Gold-standard BUMP. I'm with you.

FMCDH

[Freedom4US]

My memory isn't infallible, of course, but I seem to remember the impetus for the currency change stemmed from the large, expensive intaglio type press' ending up in Syria, after a convoluted trip through various countries who are nominally our allies. I might have the country wrong. Very high quality fakes, indistinguishable practically. I was once quite surprised in Phnom Penh when a street vendor didn't want to take a wrinkled $20 bill (US greenbacks are highly prized overseas, fully 70 per cent of US currency resides outside our borders)

[Oatka]

I like the "in gold coin payable to the bearer ON DEMAND". The older ones said "This certifies that there has been deposited in the treasury of the United States, xx dollars in gold/silver coin, payable to the bearer . ."

Just before Roosevelt went off the gold standard, two businessmen evidently saw the handwriting on the wall and converted $20,000 in paper to gold coin (then $20 an ounce). Months AFTER going off the gold standard, these guys were tracked down and made to accept $20,000 in paper. The Supreme Court said it was legal because they were given $20,000 value in return (not mentioning that gold was then valued at $35). Sounds like these judges were blood-kin of those who handed down the Dred Scott decision.

Pre-Roosevelt, paper money was really just a warehouse receipt for REAL money deposted in the treasury. As late as the 70s' the Federal Reserve Notes (IOUs) said "redeemable in lawful money by the bearer . . .". Somebody sent the Federal Reserve a $20 bill asking them to "redeem it in lawful money". They sent back two $10 bills. The guy took 'em to court claiming that replacing one IOU with two IOUs was not redeeming it in lawful money. He lost (naturally). The FR took that phrase off soon after.

Now it is just "legal tender for all debts public and private" (and we will jail you if you refuse to accept it as such).

[boris]

But I still wonder why they replaced Andy Jackson with Christopher Lee on the $20...