The E-Sylum:  Volume 11, Number 11, March 16, 2008, Article 21

NEW U.S. FIVE DOLLAR FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE ENTERS CIRCULATION

[The Palm Beach Post of Florida was one of the first
newspapers to mention the newly designed U.S. five dollar
bill.  Here are some excerpts from their March 13th article.
-Editor]

America's greenbacks have gone technicolor.

Beginning today, the color of money is purple. At least,
the color of Abe's money.

The $5 bill joins the list of American money makeovers as
the Federal Reserve issues the first of about 1.5 billion
redesigned $5 bills that will make their way into general
circulation, replacing older bills as they wear out.

Ever-stoic Abraham Lincoln will gaze seriously from a pale
purple background that fades to gray on the edges. On the
back side, a fat purple 5 in the bottom right-hand corner
will distinguish the new bill from its predecessors.

"We wanted the new bill to scream, 'I am a five, I am a five,'"
Larry Felix, director of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and
Printing, said last fall when the redesign was announced.

The funny-looking money with the larger and off-center
portraits is part of the effort to stop real funny money.

"We want to stay ahead of the counterfeiters," said
Federal Reserve Board spokesman Jeff Smith.

The $5 bill wasn't scheduled for a re-do, but counterfeiters
began bleaching $5 notes and printing fake $100s because
some security features of the two bills were in the same
locations. A new design for Benjamin Franklin's $100 bill
will be announced later this year.

Don't rush to your local bank branch looking for the new
notes today.

The new $5 bills likely will appear locally in a week to
10 days, after the branches put in orders for money.

To read the complete article, see:
Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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