New Five Dollar Bill Goes into Circulation

WASHINGTON, DC [CNN] — The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday began circulating a redesigned $5 bill. The first transaction was at a gift shop near President Lincoln’s summer cottage overlooking Washington.

Also, “How to Catch a Counterfeit” in the Extended Article!

The recently renovated cottage was selected as the backdrop for the unveiling of the new bill because Lincoln’s image remains on the front.

Perhaps the quickest way to spot the new bill is the large, purple numeral “5” on the back of the note’s lower right.

Security features added to the paper help people to spot bogus bills.

“Just hold the bill up to light,” said Michael Lambert, an assistant director at the Federal Reserve, noting two new watermarks in the paper in the morning sun outside Lincoln’s cottage.

To demonstrate the watermarks, Lambert pointed to “the large numeral 5 in the blank space of the bill to the right of the portrait of Abraham Lincoln.”

The sunlight also revealed “the large column of three smaller fives to the left of the portrait,” Lambert said.

The bill continues to use the larger, off-center portrait featured on all denominations of U.S. currency since 1996.

Anti-counterfeiting measures are the main reason the United States has been making changes in currency.

It started in 1996 with the $100 bill, followed by a new $20 bill in 2003. The $50 bill got an overhaul in 2004, and the $10 was redesigned in 2006.

How to Catch a Counterfeit

In 2007, about $61.4 million in unauthorized U.S. currency circulated worldwide. The latest version of the $5 bill — the first in a series of notes to receive the Federal Reserve’s anti-forgery makeover — is armed with several new features designed to thwart counterfeiters.

New watermarks include a large 5, visible to the right of President Abraham Lincoln’s portrait, and a column of three small 5s. The watermarks are a part of the bill’s paper itself and can be seen from both sides.

The security thread was moved from the left side of the bill to the right and glows blue when held under ultraviolet light.

The Great Seal of the United States, featuring an eagle and shield, and an arc of purple stars now mark the bill’s background.

Microprinted words — “FIVE DOLLARS,” “E PLURIBUS UNUM” and “USA FIVE” — appear as low-vision forgery deterrents.

An authentic note letter and number specify the Federal Reserve Bank of origin.