U.S. introduces colorful new $10 | CNN

[Ediacara]

U.S. introduces colorful new $10
Bill is latest in series meant to thwart counterfeiters of U.S. currency.
September 28, 2005: 11:27 AM EDT
By Rob Kelley, CNN/Money staff writer


U.S. Department of the Treasury

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A redesigned $10 bill -- including a new background color meant to thwart counterfeiters -- was unveiled Wednesday at a ceremony on Ellis Island in New York Harbor.

The new $10 bill follows the introduction of new $20 and $50 bills in each of the last two years.

"The new $10 note design continues the U.S. Government's efforts to make our currency safer, smarter, and more secure," said Dawn Haley of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in a statement announcing the new bill.

More at CNN

ON EDIT:


Larger images here

[Richard D]

1. Yeah . . .

. . . it'll take counterfitters like a few weeks to get this one down.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. Try making them so they don't tear so easily!

[davidinalameda]

3. do away with paper currency

and go with coins

I have yet to hear of anyone counterfeiting coins

[LizMoonstar]

5. i do love pound coins, but the dollar coins didn't catch on. ~shrug~

[Ediacara]

11. It didn't catch on for a couple of reasons

1) They didn't make enough of them.
2) They didn't make them widely available.
3) They didn't stop making $1 notes.

Many central banks replace low value banknotes with coins, but the ONLY way this ever works is if they stop manufacturing the banknote and make the coins very widely available immediately.

[Gormy Cuss]

20. And the $1 coin was too similar in size to the 25 cent piece. eom

[Ediacara]

26. This was actually not a problem with the new dollars

The Susan B. Anthony dollar was problematic because it was "silver" and had a reeded edge, just like a quarter. It's hard to distinguish at a glance, or in your pocket.

The new Sacagawea dollars were "gold" and had a smooth edge (like a nickel). They are very easy to distinguish from quarters based on color, and based on feel in your pocket. Another neat feature is a sort of raised outer rim on the new dollars. A quarter fits snuggly inside this raised rim and doesn't allow lateral sliding, so it's an extra tactile assurance that you have a dollar.

[Gormy Cuss]

33. There's a Sacagewea dollar?

Just kidding. Thanks for the reminder. I forgot about this newer attempt to introduce a better dollar coin. The only time I'm rememeber the new dollar is the sign on the stamp machine in the post office, warning away all comers that change is provided in dollar coins. :+

There does seem to be a lack of interest in integrating dollar coins into our every day currency. I'd be happy to use them over paper dollars especially for smaller purchases like vending machines, public transit fares, etc.

[trogdor]

25. Canada did a much better job.

Of course, the population of Canada is 1/10 of ours, so its several mints could handle the job easily. Replacing a large percentage of all the U.S. $1 notes currently in circulation with coins is a much larger job. Nevertheless, it could have been accomplished over a period of a few years.

I would suggest that the way to get them out there is to use them. Have access to a changer or vending machine that dispenses them? Get 'em and spend 'em.

[Up2Late]

38. Canada did have a lot of trouble with their $2 coin, the two parts...

...started falling apart after a very short time. I think they fixed them though.

[Ediacara]

40. I heard the "falling apart" problem

was caused because of heat differences in the factory and the warehouses in Winnipeg (where they're made). I have heard it's actually impossible to break them now, even using a hammer and spike!

[Lisa]

49. that was fixed after a couple of months ...

The ones that DID come apart are now collectors' items. One of the guys in my lab tried to break one recently by immersing it in liquid nitrogen ... no luck.


We've also tried tinted coins (some kind of enamel paint) on the red poppy edition of our 25-cent piece (for the war veterans). I actually haven't seen any of them yet, because people tend to hang onto them.

[proReality]

32. And they weigh a ton if you have a pocketful. eom

[Lisa]

50. Wish I had that problem? As a poverty-stricken student ...

I usually don't even have enough of the big coins to make a bulge in my wallet.

[TheDonkey]

52. yea, I wish they wouldn't have stopped making them

even if they could coexist with the paper dollar.

What was the purpose of getting rid of the golden dollar? Too costly because people were just hording them or they didn't want to be hassled with an unpopular coin.

[jayctravis]

55. We actually use dollar coins where I work.

The vending machines sell lots of items that are over $1, like frozen dinners and sandwiches. The change machine will break up to a $20, dispensing Sacajawea coins with an occasional Susan B. Anthony for good measure. They work quite well.

[Ediacara]

8. It happens

It doesn't happen often with pocket change though, but if we had a $100 coin, it would be counterfeited almost instantly.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. There are TONS of counterfeit coins out there

True, most of them are counterfeits of older collector coins-- But if you had a coin with a face value of, say, $10 and a metal value of 4 cents, a lot of people might be tempted to resurrect the profession.

[trogdor]

23. That's because they're nearly worthless.

Back in the days when they were made of silver, that sort of thing happened much more often.

[Xithras]

34. Coin counterfeiting is one of civilizations oldest crimes.

I've been a coin collector since I was a kid, and my collection includes TWO 2,000 year old Roman forgeries. There's evidence of it going back to the first monetary systems, and it continues right up to today in some countries. It's not big in the US simply because counterfeiting a $1 coin simply isn't worthwhile.

FWIW, paper is actually MORE secure and HARDER to counterfeit than coins. With a little practice, anyone can make a mold of an existing coin, melt a little tin into it (easy to do), and make a passable facsimile of metal currency. Unlike paper where you have embedded strips, texture, watermarks, colorization, and other security options open to you, coins only have one way to quickly verify their authenticity...weight. Since no retailer is going to weigh every single coin at every transaction, going to a coin based currency would actually make counterfeiting easier.

[Gnostic]

57. The reason....

.....nobody in their right minds would counterfeit coins is because, obviously, they don't come in high enough denominations to make the weight and metal-working worthwhile.

If they DID come in such denominations as bills, I guarantee you methods would be found and utilized to counterfeit them. Not that hard to do once you have the dies, lathes and press machines.

[tom_paine]

4. It is absolutely fitting that Imperial Amerika have new money

It disgraces and dishonors the Old United States of America, a free nation, that a Totalitarian Nation like Amerika should use it's currency.

We also need a new flag and a new national song.

My suggestion for the flag of Imperial Amerika. Same as it is now, but the field of blue should be a field of black.

[LizMoonstar]

6. um, i'm puzzled Mr. Paine.

you seem offended by the changes to the money. why so?

[tom_paine]

15. No, I approve of them.

For the reasons I outlined above. New nation should have new cash.

[Gnostic]

59. I agree

Will one of the currently displayed dead presidents on various denominations be replaced with the glorious likness of King George?

I propose Cheney on a new 3 dollar bill.

[Ediacara]

10. Uh....

This was in the works in early 1999. Colorized cash is really a 19th century inovation, and we're way behind the times....

[tom_paine]

17. I understand...and yet, we need new money for this new nation

Conceived in lies and tyranny. Imperial Amerika.

[LizMoonstar]

18. works for me. i just can't get a read on you sometimes.

slightly more on-topic, not like i'm an expert, but i worked as a bank teller for a while, once with Wells Fargo, and once in an internal banking system for Six Flags Great America, and from my point of view, the new bills are so much better. easier to sort and check, and less chance for low-tech fraud. (i.e. harder to do corner patching with larger bills onto smaller ones)

[Gnostic]

60. Synonymous

" Wells Fargo"

"low-tech fraud"

One and the same, except that Fargo uses high tech.

[trogdor]

27. If we're going to get all shiny new money...

...you'd think they'd employ a real artist to do the design. Of the new series, only the $50 note looks like it wasn't just thrown together. The new sawbuck is the worst yet.

[Mrs. Overall]

7. Am I being a tin foil hat wearer when I wonder

if all of the recent money changes, complete with colors and new symbols, is to get us accustomed to an eventual huge currency shift?

[tx_dem41]

12. Yes, you are. n/t

[Ediacara]

14. The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing is modernizing

100 years ago, the United States had the most difficult currency in the world to counterfeit. By 1970 it was the easiest. Instead of implimenting changes then, they just kept on trucking, keeping the same WWI era designs.

ALL OTHER CENTRAL BANKS ON EARTH continually redesign cash and have done so for the last century. This is partly for aesthetic purposes, but mostly for counterfeit protection. The BEP is catching up to the rest of the world by doing these redesigns.

The stated goal of the BEP is to come out with a new series (that is: design family) of banknotes every seven to ten years. This is entirely due to new technology, both in manknote manufacture and in counterfeiting.

Even these new designs aren't as safe as they could be. The cover for your manual for Windows 95/98/XP etc is harder to reproduce than this new $10 note.

Look for a new series to be produced in about 2012, probably keeping the same colors and people, but changing design again and introducing more anti-counterfeiting features.

There's nothing NWO about this. If the US had kept even the series 96 (big heads, black and white), the country would fall into financial ruin due to the high number of counterfeits. This is avoiding a "huge currency shift."

[Kokonoe]

22. I believe currency changes are to get bush Cornie signatures

on the money. And to remove traces of Democrat appointees.

[LizMoonstar]

24. except Clinton people signed all the big bills.

can't trust W with anything larger than a tenner! heh.

[Ediacara]

28. Not true

All of the colorful money, and all the big head b/w stuff issued in 2001 and 2003 have either O'Neil's or Snow's signature.

[LizMoonstar]

29. huh. i thought i remembered 50s and 100s from before 2000 being new.

i worked at the park in '99, though not in the bank, and i thought i saw them then, but i could be confused.

[Ediacara]

31. They were

The black and white big head notes were introduced 1996-99 and all signed by Robert Ruben or Larry Summers. The same bills were also made in 2001 and 2003 and signed by Paul O'Neil. The colorful notes from 2003-now are signed by John Snow.

[arikara]

39. Maybe in some sense...

What's the currency based on now with the country so far in debt? Air?

I don't remember which WW it was but I remember learning in school about when Germany went bankrupt and people were taking wheelbarrow loads of worthless currency to the store to try to buy a loaf of bread.

[Ediacara]

43. Our debt is held by foreign banks

Make no mistake, if they decide to dump our debt, or to alter our national credit rating, we're fucked. BUT, if we go down, the entire world economy will collapse.

The trouble with Germany was caused by onscene reperationsn to the WWI winners. There was no World Bank or IMF in those days, and no one wanted to help the German central bank (in the way the Chinese are covering our ass right now), so the Mark went into freefall. For an incredible example: one Deutschmark, the German post WWII currency before Euro-adoption, is equal to TEN TRILLION post WWI marks.

[Up2Late]

13. I don't like it, the colors are too subtle, almost un-noticeable

Which is exactly the point. If you don't really notice the color, you won't notice it if the color is missing or slightly off.

This $10 is going to be the new favorite for counterfeiters.

[Ediacara]

16. I think the colors in reality will be more noticeable

Like they are in the real $20 and $50 compared to the BEP's images. It is pretty subtle, but it's a very specific shade of gold, which I think may be hard to reproduce.

[redqueen]

19. Don't retailers and banks have markers

that they can use to just make a small mark on them to check if they're real?

I thought I'd seen that...

[LizMoonstar]

21. yes. but the changes help protect against low-tech fraud as well.

see above, in my post to tom paine, for examples.

[Ediacara]

30. Those pens are problematic

The react to bleaching agents used to make copy paper bright white.

1) If you leave the cap off for a long period of time (like 60 or more seconds), they lose their ability to work.
2) If you spray the note with WD40, it aparently coats the paper and doesn't allow the pen to react properly with the bleach.
3) You can easily use a light brown pen and mark your own countrfeit and trick the cashier into thinking the "magic pen" has already approved of the bill at an earlier time.
4) Counterfieters could avoid this by using unbleached paper.

[Xithras]

36. The goal is to keep them "green", while still adding color.

I saw a great photo once that had the currencies of every nation in the world lined up in a huge block. US currency was instantly recognizeable and stuck out like a sore thumb because its green on green design is visually distinct in the sea of currency colors. The "greenback" is instantly recognized anywhere in the world because of its design.

The Mint had a tough job on these bills. They had to add color while STILL keeping the greenback green and the general design recognizeably "American". They had to add color to the bills without undermining the visual distinctiveness that makes our currency unique.

[hunter]

35. Who cares?

In ten years they won't be worth shit.

[semillama]

37. You're all missing the obvious question:

Will it work in the damn laundromat change machine?

and of course, it won't.

[Deja Q]

41. Smarter? Money is only as smart as those who use it.

[Gregorian]

42. I wonder if they'll burn hotter.

When we need to warm up near our 50 gallon burn barrels, that is.

[LibertyLover]

44. New Money

In 2003 my husband and I went to China to adopt our daughter and had to bring several thousand dollars to cover fees and expenses in-country. The Chinese required that the bills be new. The Treasury had just introduced the new bill design and when I went to my bank, that's what they gave me. When we got to China and went to pay fees for the first time, the provincial officials balked at accepting it. We weren't the only ones with the problem - most of the people in our group were in the same boat. Luckily we had a "minder" from Beijing with us and he persuaded the provincial authorities to take the new "big head" money as they called it. They did, but only after they checked the US Treasury site and saw that we weren't trying to pass counterfeit bills to them. The minder came out of the office they were sequestered in and asked if any of us knew the URL for the US Treasury. I did because I had just done some research for my job, so I gave it to them. A few minutes later the officials came out and said through our translator that they would accept the new money and our adoptions proceeded without a hitch.

[hunter]

45. It's okay, this new money is backed by Chinese consumer goods

If you look very carefully, in little tiny writing, the new bills all say:

IN CHINA WE TRUST

No really, we have to trust China if these bills are to hold any value at all...

[newscott]

46. I don't like the $50.00 Seems like a sly reference to Texas

Anything for old Georgie boy.

[Up2Late]

51. What? I don't understand.

Please explain.:shrug:

[sweetheart]

47. They just need different denominations

You know, like for common prices, like a 99 cent coin, and a 4.95 note..
and a 6.99 note, so we can pay without getting useless change.

:-)

I love the 2 pound coin, it is really cool, and i really like the 5
pound coin they've come out with... coins save the taxpayer money by
lasting longer... not such a bad thing.

[ozone_man]

48. When do we get E pluribus unum back?

Our original national motto was the seculer E Pluribus Unum (one from many). It's constitutionality ought to be challenged one these days, as the pledge currently is.

The original national motto: "E Pluribus Unum"
The original motto of the United States was secular. "E Pluribus Unum" is Latin for "One from many" or "One from many parts." It refers to the welding of a single federal state from a group of individual political units -- originally colonies and now states.

On 1776-JUL-4, Congress appointed John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson to prepare a design for the Great Seal of the United States. The first design, submitted to Congress on 1776-AUG-10 used the motto "E Pluribus Unum." It was rejected. Five other designs also failed to meet with Congress' approval during the next five years. In 1782, Congress asked Mr. Thomson, Secretary of Congress, to complete the project. Thomson, along with a friend named Barton, produced a design that was accepted by Congress on 1782-JUN-10. It included an eagle with a heart-shaped shield, holding arrows and an olive branch in its claws. The motto "E Pluribus Unum" appeared on a scroll held in its beak. The seal was first used on 1782-SEP-16. It was first used on some federal coins in 1795.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_mott.htm

[NYC]

61. E pluribus unum is still on the penny.

I think that is the only money it is on.

[struggle4progress]

53. New bills! Now with even more red ink! eom

[jayctravis]

54. The new $10 is a great design.

The $20 looks like it got accidentally washed with new jeans that bled dye. The paper feel on those is also more "plasticky", though I haven't seen a new $10 yet.

[Endangered Specie]

56. Looks like monopoly money to me...

ironic thing is, if things keep up, it WILL be worth about as much!

[NYC]

62. I can no longer recognize money at a glance.

I actually have to focus on it to tell what it is. I agree that it looks like monopoly money. I hate the changes.

[Renew Deal]

58. I printed them off. They look good.

:evilgrin:

[Nihil]

63. *snort*

:spray:

[Orrin_73]

64. What no Reagan pic on the bill!!!!