With technology getting better and fraud on the rise, it is more important than ever for governments to protect their money and keep putting in place steps that make dollar bills safer. So does the U.S. government; in fact, they are redoing all of their dollar bills right now.
The Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Bureau of Engraving are in charge of this complicated process. Within the next few years, all bills in circulation will have a different look and more security features. Making bills harder to copy is the clear goal: stop counterfeiters from filling the market with fake money and causing the value of money to drop.
Both the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence Steering Committee (ACD) and the Secret Service will help these two organizations. This is because they are usually in charge of finding fake bills and where they came from. With their knowledge, they can also tell which security measures are easier to break and which ones take more time or skill.
Along with this process, the government has begun putting in place a number of steps that will make it easier to carry out the new laws in a few years. One of these steps is that stores and banks will be told not to accept broken bills as payment, so they will start being taken out of circulation.
Damaged bills are usually taken out of circulation anyway, but businesses and ATMs may not notice small tears or other flaws because the bills are still legal cash even when they are damaged. Soon, this won’t be the case anymore.
Most banks have even changed their ATMs so they won’t accept these bills anymore. Customers will have to go to a bank branch in person to exchange the bill for a new one.
There are seven different bill amounts in use in the US right now: USD 1, USD 2, USD 5, USD 10, USD 20, USD 50, and USD 100. A band and a serial number on each bill make it easy to tell them apart. However, these are being updated as old bills are taken out of circulation to make the new bills safer.
Every so many years, this process is done to make the proof details easier to understand so that people can tell the difference between a real and a fake bill.
New dollar: when will the new bills be launched
5 dollar bill, which is set to enter circulation between 2032 and 2035.
10 dollar bill, which is set to enter the market from 2026.
20 dollar bill, which is set to enter the market from 2030.
50 dollar bill, which is set to enter the market from 2028.
100 dollar bill, which is set to be available on the market from 2034 and 2038.
The only changes that have been announced correspond to security measures. It is unclear if the current designs will be kept as is or if the figure represented in the bills will be modified.
Dollar: the security elements to identify a counterfeit bill
Some of the security elements we can find in the current currency to help us identify the fact that they are real legal tender are:
3D security band: in high denomination bills, such as the $100, the blue band shows bells that transform into the numbers “100” and seem to move when the bill is tilted.
Color-shifting ink: The number in the bottom right corner of the $100 changes from copper to green when the note is tilted.
Watermark: When the note is held up to the light, a faint image of the portrait corresponding to the value of the note should appear.
Microprinting: Small inscriptions such as “USA” or “THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” are found in various areas of the note.
Raised printing: When touching the note, especially the portrait area, a rough texture may be perceived, typical of raised printing.