THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 14, 1994 TAG: 9407140684
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM WEBB, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
After 65 years, Benjamin Franklin and his famous friends are getting a makeover.
The U.S. Treasury announced Wednesday it is redesigning America's paper money, hoping to thwart a new generation of counterfeiters. Starting in 1996, the new bills will feature larger portraits, less scrollwork and about a dozen new security features.
But the big change is that the famous portraits will be moved slightly to the left. So, while Franklin and George Washington will be larger than before, they'll also be off-center.
``The enhancements in the new currency will be dramatic - the first change in the basic appearance of U.S. currency in 65 years,'' Treasurer Mary Ellen Withrow said.
The changes are solely for security reasons, officials say. While counterfeit bills aren't a huge threat now, the Treasury and the Secret Service worry about the new wave of color photocopiers, foreign counterfeiting rings and emerging technologies.
``We must take steps now in order to address a threat that will increase as technology improves,'' Treasury Undersecretary Frank Newman said.
Even with the redesign, the currency's most familiar features won't change. The color and size will be the same. Bills will keep all the same symbols and sayings, including ``In God We Trust.'' The same kind of paper and ink will be used. And they'll feature the same famous men on the front, but with new portraits.
``We're not making any changes for purely aesthetic reasons,'' one Treasury official said.
Franklin's $100 bill will be the first redesigned, mostly because it's the favorite target for counterfeiters. The new bill will feature ``a different Ben Franklin,'' said one official, but ``he won't be grinning.''
Then the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will work on the smaller denominations: the $50, the $20, the $10, the $5 and finally the $1 bill. (Treasury officials conveniently skipped the failed $2 bill).
Even when the new money is circulating, your old money will continue to be good. Officials promise that there will be no recall of the $357 billion of currency now in circulation.
The Federal Reserve plans to weed out old bills gradually, so in time they'll become more rare and counterfeiters will have greater trouble passing them.
But the change will inconvenience law-abiding citizens, too, at vending machines, automatic teller machines and other gadgets that accept greenbacks. Treasury officials stress that the $1 bill will be the last to be redesigned, probably around 1999, so there's plenty of time to prepare.
Officials haven't fully decided which anti-counterfeiting features to adopt, but they're promising a long list. They include:
A watermark on the extreme right side of the bill's front. The $1 bill, for instance, will feature a watermark of Washington. The watermark is the reason the portraits are being moved off-center.
Special ink that appears to change color, from green to gold, depending on the light. The special ink will be used on only a small part of the bill.
Polyester strips embedded in the paper. The threads will be placed in different spots on different denominations.
Small lines that can't be reproduced without some telltale distortion, ``like someone wearing a striped shirt on color TV,'' one official said.
Tiny dots embedded in the paper that change color depending on how the light hits them.
Print that is so small it can't be reproduced by photocopiers.
And some secret security measures that Treasury officials refuse to reveal. Those measures are designed to be detected by machines.
The Secret Service says that the most serious counterfeiting problems with U.S. currency actually come from overseas. Reports of sophisticated counterfeit operations in the Middle East are causing concern in Washington, atop old worries about drug traffickers in Latin America counterfeiting U.S. dollars.
Authorities expect to seize about $200 million of phony U.S. dollars this year, two-thirds of it abroad.
``The plan is not a response to a crisis, it is not a response to any current counterfeiting case,'' Newman said. ``It is a responsible, forward-looking prevention program.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color graphic by JOHN CASERTA
MONETARY MAKEOVER
For copy of graphic, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: U.S. TREASURY U.S. CURRENCY
by CNB