Colorful new $20 bill to be unveiled today

Associated Press ^ | May 13, 2003 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Colorful new $20 bill to be unveiled today

05/13/2003

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - America's paper money -- the venerable greenback -- is no longer going to appear all green. Bills aren't about to turn psychedelic, but they are getting a tad more colorful, part of a broader effort to thwart sophisticated counterfeiters.

First in line for the government's money makeover is the $20 bill, featuring Andrew Jackson. The $20 bill is the most-counterfeited note in the United States and the second most-commonly used bill behind the $1.

The Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which makes the nation's paper currency, planned to debut the new $20 in a public showing Tuesday.

One of the most noticeable changes is the bill has more color, although officials wouldn't provide details. In addition, bureau officials have said the public can expect different looks in the images of Jackson, the seventh president, on the front and the White House on the back of the bill.

Green and black ink are now used on neutral-colored paper. The new color or colors would be subtle and would be added in the neutral areas, officials have said. Color would vary by denomination.

The United States has had colorful money before, but it was a long time ago, experts said.

"The U.S. used to have big, colorful currency -- some of it even described as `rainbow notes' in the 1800s," said David Hall, president of Collectors Universe, a California company that specializes in rare coin and paper money. "The monotony of black and green started in the late 1920s when our paper money was redesigned and reduced in size," Hall said.

People won't see the new $20s in cash registers or dispensed by ATM machines until after the new bills go into circulation, probably in the fall.

Around 12 to 18 months after that, a redesigned $100 bill -- the most knocked-off note outside the country -- and a new $50 bill will follow. The government is considering whether to change $5s and $10s. There are no plans to alter the $1, because counterfeiters don't bother with such small stuff. The same goes for the obscure $2 bill.

When the new $20 is issued, the old bills will remain in circulation and will be used until they wear out. The average life of a $20 bill is four years.

By itself, the addition of color isn't a security feature, but its use provides the opportunity to add more features that could deter bogus bill makers, bureau officials have said.

Over the years, counterfeiters have graduated from offset printing to increasingly sophisticated color copiers, computer scanners, color ink jet printers and publishing-grade software, all readily available.

Another change for the new $20 may include using more distinct color-shifting ink. In the last currency redesign, color-shifting ink that looks green when viewed straight on but black at an angle was used in a spot on some notes.

Some anti-counterfeiting features included in the last redesign will be retained, officials have said. They include watermarks that are visible when held up to light; embedded security threads that glow a color when exposed to an ultraviolet light; and very tiny images, visible with a magnifying glass, known as microprinting.

The government is working with industry to make sure the new bills can be read by ATMs and vending machines.

The $20 bill was last made over in 1998, part of a redesign of U.S. currency that that started out in 1996 with the $100 bill and ended in 2000 with new $5s and $10s.

A number of security features were added to the bills. But the most noticeable change was the harder-to-copy, oversized, off-center portraits of the nation's founding fathers. That produced all kinds of derisive nicknames: funny money, Monopoly money and cartoon money.

While the new look for the founding fathers in the 1996 redesign might not have won widespread rave reviews, the security features are proving effective. "The incidence of counterfeiting of the new-design notes is dramatically lower than that of the older-design notes," the Treasury Department, Secret Service and the Federal Reserve said in a report released earlier this year.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/051303dnnatbill.145b93da.html

[michigander]

[My2Cents]

Any photos of the new 20...suitable for printing, of course? (hehe)

[cubreporter]

Doesn't matter what color it is to me as long as I can spend it. :)

[Redcloak]

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing's page on the new currency...

http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney

[MeekOneGOP]

I found these on the breaking thread . . .

Front:

Back:

[Tall_Texan]

In addition, bureau officials have said the public can expect different looks in the images of Jackson...

Jackson will now appear with spiked, streaked hair, a nose ring, another ring over his left eyebrow and a tattoo on his neck. He will also be made to appear more effeminate.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thank you for the link !

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL !

[BlueMondaySkipper]

When the new $20 is issued, the old bills will remain in circulation and will be used until they wear out.

This is something that I have never understood.

If you were a counterfeiter, wouldn't you just continue to make the old style bills. You might need to (eventually) put them through an aging process, but since they aren't being recalled, how can this stop the fakes?

I am skeptical that the true purpose of these changes is to stop counterfeiting.

[Consort]

[MeekOneGOP]

It probably has something to do with costs, I don't know. Paper currency has a limited useful life (less than one year I believe). In a relatively short period of time, all the old money will become tattered and taken out of circulation by natural attrition. "NEW" looking OLD style bills will be very suspect upon receipt then. The new currency will soon become the predominate one circulated.

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL !

[MeekOneGOP]

I am skeptical that the true purpose of these changes is to stop counterfeiting.

What might it be, then ???

[Cicero]

It's not as bad as it might be, but its ugly compared to the original $20 bill. The fretwork around the edges is greatly simplified; Jackson's head is off center; the numbers in the corners are all different, assymetrical sizes. The eagle prominently grasps his olive branch but the arrows are obscured, in this picture at least. Of course some of this already took place on the earlier modification of this bill.

I suppose we should be grateful that they left the flag on top of the White House and didn't remove "In God We Trust."

[tuckrdout]

I say RESIST!!! We don't want to look like European countries whose money looks like it belongs in a board game.....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
!!

[Your Nightmare]

And I wasn't aware that Andrew Jackson had physical deformities. It looks like his head is sitting on a potato sack!

And the "Jackson" banner looks like it was cut and pasted from the old $20s.

[Brian Allen]

That joker should be on a Three!

[pragmatic_asian]

Actually, I hear that our paper currency is designed to last up to 7 years of normal use. Otherwise, there would be a lot more printing going on and a much greater demand for currency.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Watched "Escape from L.A." last night... to quote Snake Plisskin:

"Not greenbacks... bluebacks!"