IP: Redesigned $20 Bills Debut Sept. 24

[Vladimir Z. Nuri]

From: believer at telepath.com
Subject: IP: Redesigned $20 Bills Debut Sept. 24
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 10:08:59 -0500
To: believer at telepath.com

Source:  Department of Defense
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Sep1998/n09151998_9809157.html

[Note: Images at this site if you want to look at the new bill.]

Redesigned $20 Bills Debut Sept. 24 
 By Rudi Williams
 American Forces Press Service

 WASHINGTON - The government rolls out its new redesigned high- tech,
tough-to-copy $20 bill worldwide Sept. 24.
 
 Revamped $50 and $100 notes are already in circulation. The $20  bill,
though, is key to thwarting counterfeiters, because it's  the most widely
circulated "big bill" and the most  counterfeited, Secret Service
spokeswoman Chaun Yount said. The  Secret Service -- the organization that
guards the president --  is the Treasury Department unit that oversees
counterfeiting  issues.
 
 Both sides of the redesigned $20 bills include numerous
anti-counterfeiting measures, she said. Security features include embedded
threads with micro-printing; a watermark; a large, off-center portrait of
President Andrew Jackson with micro-printed words and hard-to-copy engraved
details; the Federal Reserve seal; and color-shifting ink.
 
 Yount said people are the first line of defense against counterfeiting.
People need to be familiar with the new twenties because they'll be seeing
a lot of them, she said. According to U.S. Treasury figures, the mints
print $20 notes in numbers second only to $1 notes.
 
 "We always have $20 bills in our pocket, if we're lucky," she noted. "The
general public pays little attention to the $20 bill because it's the most
commonly used note. Counterfeiters look at that as an opportunity. They
like twenties because of their 'nice profit margin'" -- they have the
highest face value that doesn't draw most people's attention, and passable
fake twenties cost no more to make than fake fives and tens.
 
 "People who are passing counterfeit money are looking for a high volume of
cash," she said. "They target people who are rushed and don't take time to
authenticate the bills." She said military people are not typical targets
of counterfeiters. However, the Treasury Department has been working with
possible targets, such as the military exchange services, to train
employees on the look and security features of the new $20 bill.
 
 In 1995, $231 million worth of counterfeit U.S. money was seized
worldwide, Yount noted. That dropped to $64 million in 1996 and 1997 after
the similarly redesigned $100 and $50 notes were introduced.
 
 She said the new notes will spread as fast as financial institutions order
$20 bills and circulate them. "So for some time, the old and new $20 bills
will circulate at the same time," she noted. "As the old $20 bills wear
out, they'll be replaced with the new ones. The life of a $20 bill is about
two years."
 
 Treasury officials are working on new, high-tech $1, $5 and $10 notes with
anti-counterfeiting features. For more information about redesigned U.S.
currency, visit the Treasury Department Web sites at www.treas.gov or
www.moneyfactory.com/currency/20.cfm.
 
 [IMAGE}  Security features on the front of the new $20 note include an
embedded security
thread; a large, off-center portrait of President Andrew Jackson; the
Federal Reserve
seal; and color-shifting ink. U.S. Treasury Department 

[IMAGE}  The backside of the new $20 note contains fine-line printing
patterns; an
easy-to-read large $20 numeral; and an embedded security thread. U.S. Treasury
Department 
-----------------------
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and
educational purposes only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
-----------------------




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