NEWS
BYTES
September 2006
THE
U.S. TREASURY, FEDERAL RESERVE AND U.S. SECRET SERVICE
ANNOUNCE THE REDESIGN OF THE $5 NOTE
WASHINGTON – June 29, 2006 - The U.S. government announced
today that it plans to redesign the $5 note as part of ongoing
security enhancements to U.S. currency. Officials said redesigning
the $5 note will help update and protect U.S. currency.
“The
$5 note is widely used in a variety of vending, transit farecard
and self-service machines,” said Bureau of Engraving and
Printing Director Larry Felix. “We have already begun working
with the manufacturers of those cash-handling machines and their
customers, so they have ample time to adjust their equipment
to accept the redesigned $5 note when it enters circulation.”
The
latest series of U.S. currency began with the introduction of
the $20 note in 2003, and continued with the $50 note in 2004
and the $10 note in 2006. The redesigned $5 note is expected
to be issued in early 2008 with the $100 note to follow.
Overall,
counterfeiting of U.S. currency remains at low levels –
due primarily to a combination of improvements in the notes’
security features, aggressive law enforcement and education
efforts to inform the public about how to verify their currency.
Statistics continue to indicate that the amount of counterfeit
U.S. currency worldwide is less than one percent of genuine
U.S. currency in circulation.
“The
U.S. government keeps a close eye on evolving counterfeiting
trends and redesigns the currency to protect the public’s
hard earned money and to stay ahead of counterfeiters,”
said Michael Lambert, Assistant Director of Federal Reserve
Bank Operations and Payment Systems. “The newly designed
$5 note will be safer and provides the public with easy-to-use
security features to help them identify counterfeit notes.”
He noted the government’s policy is to introduce new currency
designs about every seven to 10 years to leverage advances in
security technology and stay ahead of evolving counterfeiting
methods.
The
government’s ongoing scrutiny of counterfeiting techniques
has detected a pattern in which counterfeiters bleach the ink
off of $5 notes, then print counterfeit $100 notes on the paper,
deceiving the public because of similarities between the placement
of the security features on the $5 and $100 notes. While these
counterfeit attempts pose no significant economic problems today,
officials say a redesign of the $5 will help ensure such problems
do not develop in the future.
“Through
our investigations and law enforcement partnerships worldwide,
we are constantly evaluating and combating trends that could
potentially impact the security of our currency,” said
Deputy Assistant Director Michael P. Merritt, U.S. Secret Service.
“Aggressive law enforcement, an effective design, and public
education are all essential components of our concerted anti-counterfeiting
efforts.”
The
most effective way the public can protect themselves from counterfeit
currency is to know the security features to look for in authentic
U.S. currency. To that end, part of the government’s ongoing
currency redesign effort is a worldwide public education program
to raise awareness of the changes to U.S. currency.
An
array of free educational materials for previously released
redesigned currency including posters, “take one”
cards, training videos and CD-ROMs are available to businesses,
financial institutions, trade and professional associations,
citizen groups and individuals to prepare cash handlers and
consumers to recognize the new design and protect against counterfeits.
Materials are available in 24 languages to order or download
on-line at www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney. Soon, similar materials
will be available for the redesigned $5 note and all future
denominations of redesigned U.S. currency.
