New $100 Bill Difficult to Counterfeit

Tired of searching for jobs? Considering turning criminal, and counterfeiting $100 bills? Such crazy fantasies occur to the best of us after the tenth discouraging interview in which we are warned that “there were over 100 respondents to our add.” Nevertheless, counterfeiting $100s has just become a whole lot harder.

Meet the new Benjamin. It now features a 3D security ribbon with bell and inkwell logo, depending on what angle you look at it from. This is woven into the bill, not printed on it. The image of 100s on it change to bells as you tilt the paper.

The bills also continue to use such traditional security features as portrait watermark and security thread that glows pink under backlight.

“Bills have to be easy to produce cheaply in large quantities by the government, yet hard to reproduce in small quantities by counterfeiters” said Bruce Scheier, security expert at BT. The problem was, with high powered printers, counterfeiting 100s has become easier. The U.S. secret Service says $80.7 million in counterfeit money exchanged hands in 2012.

The new bill is meant to end that, and can be one less desperate fantasy for exhausted job searchers to resort to. Robbing a bank and winning the lotto are the alternative daydreams.