Business & Tech

Ben Franklin is Back with a Facelift: $100 Bill is New

A new design for the old bill.

Ben Franklin's back and he's got a brand new look.

The Federal Reserve Board Tuesday began circulating a redesigned $100 note, "which incorporates new security features such as a blue, 3-D security ribbon, will be easier for the public to authenticate but more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate," according to a release from the Treasury.

The new bill will include raised printing, a color-changing bell atop an inkwell, and a newly designed watermark of Franklin's face on the right front of the note.

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The design was unveiled three years ago, but its introduction was postponed following a production delay.

For business owners and employees who often handle cash, the Treasury has training materials available online for download.

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The last redesign of the $100 bill first circulated in March 1996.

If you get one of the new $100 bills, check the serial number. Coin and money collectors will be especially interested in the low serial numbers.

"Early on, they’ll have the highest demand and highest premium. I would anticipate that the first number ones to reach the market will be $7,500 to $10,000,” if not more, Frederick Bart, a dealer of rare currency, told NBC.

The lowest eight-digit serial numbers — 00000001, 00000002 and so on — will fetch the highest prices.

Mary Ann Barton contributed to this report.


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