New $20 Note begins circulation today

This link has a pic of the new note (right side):

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99524,00.html



Changing the Color of Money

Thursday, October 09, 2003

By Amy C. Sims

Andrew Jackson (search)*is getting a lively new makeover by the U.S.
government, which has freed him from his former frame and brightened up
his background on the new $20 bill, entering circulation through
commercial banks today.

These changes aren¹t an exercise in vanity **the $20 bill (search)*is a
counterfeiter's favorite muse, regularly dispensed from ATM machines and
toted in wallets but rarely checked by merchants for authenticity. In an
attempt to stay ahead of copying crooks, the U.S. government is getting
clever with cash.

³The security features we¹ve added are really two-fold,² said*U.S.
Secret Service (search)*agent Jean Mitchell. ³They make it more
difficult for counterfeiters to reproduce and also give the general
public useful tools to determine if their money is counterfeit.²

While maintaining the same measurements and feel as its predecessor, the
new greenback will make room for other colors of the rainbow, something
that hasn¹t been seen on American currency since 1905. Soft background
colors of peach, green and blue will make the latest incarnation of the
$20 noticeably different.

Other specifics the public can look for are the words ³TWENTY USA²
printed in blue and tons of tiny yellow number 20s in the background.
Also making their way into the bustling bill are a blue eagle sitting to
the left of the presidential portrait and a metallic green eagle and
shield to the right. Jackson is also coming out of his shell * the
border that used to surround his portrait has been removed.

Though it may take the public some time to get used to the new bill,
modernizing money is serious business for the government when it comes
to counteracting criminals looking to make an easy buck.

³In the fiscal year of 2001, $600 billion were in circulation and out of
that $49 million in counterfeit currency was passed on the public,² said
Mitchell. ³World-wide, about one dollar for every 12,400 in circulation
is counterfeit.²

But while the government is enhancing currency with new security
features, computer technology is also leaping forward at a pace that's
hard to compete with, said David Kirkpatrick, senior editor for
technology at Fortune magazine.

No matter how bright the bill becomes, colors won¹t be an obstacle for
criminals, he said. ³Color copiers are already capable of picking up the
most subtle details. The new colors won¹t make it harder to copy the
surface of the bill.²

The new $20 will still feature the anti-counterfeiting features found on
the current version, which was last updated in 1996: The watermark (a
faint image similar to the portrait visible when held up to the light),
the security thread (a vertical strip of plastic embedded in the bill
that reads ³USA TWENTY²) and color-shifting ink (ink that changes the
numeral ³20² in the lower-right corner on the face from copper to green).

Other spiffed-up former presidents will eventually join Jackson. Updated
versions of the $50 bill will roll out in 2004 and the $100 (the most
counterfeited U.S. bill outside of the country) in 2005. Mitchell said
the new versions are staggered to give the public time to adjust to
change.

But the use of all of the different technologies in the latest bill is
³indicative of how difficult the counterfeit problem is,² Kirkpatrick
said. ³Obviously not enough was done in the last round or they wouldn¹t
be doing it again.²

If the public closely inspects their bills for the new changes, funny
money could become less prolific, but the ability to counterfeit remains
staggeringly easy, Kirkpatrick said.

³You can just stick one of these things on a high end color printer and
get something that from an arms length wouldn¹t look any different," he
said. "All they have to be able to do is pass it once.²

Still, the government is confident the new $20 will stand up to funny
money challengers.

³This is the most secure note the U.S. government has ever produced,²
said Federal Reserve Board Governor Mark W. Olson in a statement.

Even with all the fancy additions, Mitchell said the public is the first
line of defense against counterfeiters because if they spot a fake, they
can take it out of circulation (a wise move anyway since it¹s illegal to
spend a counterfeit bill).

³If they know their money, they are less likely to become a victim," she
said.

--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."

Go Fig wrote in message ...
This link has a pic of the new note (right side):

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99524,00.html


SNIP.

I don't really see how changing the bill helps at all, unless they
call in all of the old ones. You can still use "old" small picture
bills anywhere and nobody will bat an eyelash. It will take years
for even the "old" bills to be flushed out of the system, let alone
the "middle-aged" bills. By that time, these "new" bills will
probably also have been surplanted by something else.

On 9 Oct 2003 15:45:39 -0700, (SP Cook) wrote:

I don't really see how changing the bill helps at all, unless they
call in all of the old ones. You can still use "old" small picture
bills anywhere and nobody will bat an eyelash. It will take years
for even the "old" bills to be flushed out of the system, let alone
the "middle-aged" bills.

I think you'll find bills get old a lot quicker than that, and even if
it did take years, why would that mean leaving the easy to counterfeit
bills around is a good idea? Or yeah, lets do nothing simply because
it takes too long...

Jim.

On 9 Oct 2003 15:45:39 -0700, (SP Cook) wrote:

Go Fig wrote in message ...
This link has a pic of the new note (right side):

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99524,00.html


SNIP.

I don't really see how changing the bill helps at all, unless they
call in all of the old ones. You can still use "old" small picture
bills anywhere and nobody will bat an eyelash. It will take years
for even the "old" bills to be flushed out of the system, let alone
the "middle-aged" bills. By that time, these "new" bills will
probably also have been surplanted by something else.

I don't see counterfeiters trying to make old-style bills that
are half-worn out. If you get an old small-portrait twnety dollar
bill in brand new crisp condition you would be wise to examine it
closely.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

SP Cook's ) pet ferret ran around on the keyboard to
create om:

Go Fig wrote in message
...
This link has a pic of the new note (right side):

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99524,00.html


SNIP.

I don't really see how changing the bill helps at all, unless they
call in all of the old ones. You can still use "old" small picture
bills anywhere and nobody will bat an eyelash. It will take years
for even the "old" bills to be flushed out of the system, let alone
the "middle-aged" bills. By that time, these "new" bills will
probably also have been surplanted by something else.

The average life of a bill is less than 18 months. Believe me, the old
ones go quick. I don't know if you're in the US, but I haven't seen the
old $20 for years now and would be suspicious of someone trying to pass
one. I would say that the current $20 (i.e., the one we're used to
seeing at the moment) will be very rare within the next year or so.

-Alex Tievsky

--
LET'S GO CAPS!

History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.
- Sir Winston Churchill

Email: "atievsky" at-symbol "cox" dot "net"

On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 07:44:20 +0200, "Sjoerd"
wrote:


"Alex Tievsky" schreef in bericht
...
SP Cook's ) pet ferret ran around on the keyboard to
create om:

I don't really see how changing the bill helps at all, unless they
call in all of the old ones. You can still use "old" small picture
bills anywhere and nobody will bat an eyelash. It will take years
for even the "old" bills to be flushed out of the system, let alone
the "middle-aged" bills. By that time, these "new" bills will
probably also have been surplanted by something else.

The average life of a bill is less than 18 months. Believe me, the old
ones go quick. I don't know if you're in the US, but I haven't seen the
old $20 for years now and would be suspicious of someone trying to pass
one.

I got a few old ones from an ATM in New York in June. I got a few old ones
from an ATM at Schiphol (yes, they do have a USD ATM there) in August. I got
a lot of old ones in Hanoi when changing a USD 100 note in September.

Were they counterfeit?

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

"Alex Tievsky" schreef in bericht
...
SP Cook's ) pet ferret ran around on the keyboard to
create om:

Go Fig wrote in message
...
This link has a pic of the new note (right side):

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99524,00.html


SNIP.

I don't really see how changing the bill helps at all, unless they
call in all of the old ones. You can still use "old" small picture
bills anywhere and nobody will bat an eyelash. It will take years
for even the "old" bills to be flushed out of the system, let alone
the "middle-aged" bills. By that time, these "new" bills will
probably also have been surplanted by something else.

The average life of a bill is less than 18 months. Believe me, the old
ones go quick. I don't know if you're in the US, but I haven't seen the
old $20 for years now and would be suspicious of someone trying to pass
one.

I got a few old ones from an ATM in New York in June. I got a few old ones
from an ATM at Schiphol (yes, they do have a USD ATM there) in August. I got
a lot of old ones in Hanoi when changing a USD 100 note in September.

Sjoerd

"Hatunen" schreef in bericht
...
On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 07:44:20 +0200, "Sjoerd"
wrote:


"Alex Tievsky" schreef in bericht
...
SP Cook's ) pet ferret ran around on the keyboard to
create om:

I don't really see how changing the bill helps at all, unless they
call in all of the old ones. You can still use "old" small picture
bills anywhere and nobody will bat an eyelash. It will take years
for even the "old" bills to be flushed out of the system, let alone
the "middle-aged" bills. By that time, these "new" bills will
probably also have been surplanted by something else.

The average life of a bill is less than 18 months. Believe me, the old
ones go quick. I don't know if you're in the US, but I haven't seen the
old $20 for years now and would be suspicious of someone trying to pass
one.

I got a few old ones from an ATM in New York in June. I got a few old
ones
from an ATM at Schiphol (yes, they do have a USD ATM there) in August. I
got
a lot of old ones in Hanoi when changing a USD 100 note in September.

Were they counterfeit?

I don't know. I have spent all of them without any problems.

Sjoerd

"Hatunen" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 07:44:20 +0200, "Sjoerd"
wrote:


"Alex Tievsky" schreef in bericht
...
SP Cook's ) pet ferret ran around on the keyboard to
create om:

I don't really see how changing the bill helps at all, unless they
call in all of the old ones. You can still use "old" small picture
bills anywhere and nobody will bat an eyelash. It will take years
for even the "old" bills to be flushed out of the system, let alone
the "middle-aged" bills. By that time, these "new" bills will
probably also have been surplanted by something else.

The average life of a bill is less than 18 months. Believe me, the old
ones go quick. I don't know if you're in the US, but I haven't seen the
old $20 for years now and would be suspicious of someone trying to pass
one.

I got a few old ones from an ATM in New York in June. I got a few old
ones
from an ATM at Schiphol (yes, they do have a USD ATM there) in August. I
got
a lot of old ones in Hanoi when changing a USD 100 note in September.

Were they counterfeit?

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

I have about $400 of them from my last trip to America, are they valid
forever?
Derek.

In article , Derek F wrote:

I have about $400 of them from my last trip to America, are they valid
forever?

Short answer: essentially, yes.

Long answer: I don't know if it'll *always* be the case in the future, but
I can say that paper money, even from at least 100 years ago, is still
legal tender. Obviously the pre-1957 ones are worth more to collectors than
at face value!

Merchants may not always accept *really* old bills due to suspicion or lack
of familiarity, but they're still valid and exchangable at banks backed by
the Federal Reserve Bank. In general, you'll have no problems in using
bills printed in 1957 or later.

(The year series is listed on the front of the bill in small print
somewhere...the exact location has changed a little over the years but
currently is near the lower right edge, to the right of the individual's
portrait on the front side of the bill.)

Even the national bank notes issued by various banks in the days before the
Federal Reserve System between 1883 and 1913 are still legal tender. And
possibly even back to 1861 but I don't know much about the status of paper
money issued between 1861 and 1883.

Ironically enough, foreign coins (presumably including British coins) based
on metal composition and purity/weight were legal for payment of debt in
the U.S. until 1857 when Congress prohibited that.

As for coins... the Coinage Act of 1965 passed by Congress made all U.S.
government-issued coins legal tender, so in theory, you could still get an
exchange or use to satisfy debt today for even the first coins made in
1793. In practice, you're not likely to get people to accept cents made
before 1909, nickels made before 1938, dimes made before 1946, quarters
made before 1932, and half dollars made before 1964.

No foreseenable changes to status of paper money or coins so likely they'll
be legal tender for a very, very, very long time and probably span entire
lifetimes. Nothing to worry about if you've got stuff you want to spend on
the next visit here :-) Just don't wait 60 years to spend them because by
then, the clerks at stores may have forgotten what paper money from long
before looked like and refuse to accept them! (Even then, you could still
exchange them at a Federal Reserve-backed bank.)

-Dan