New $100 bills are here

The look of the ‘Benjamins’ in your wallet have finally gotten their long-planned makeover. A redesigned $100 bill featuring founding father Benjamin Franklin enters circulation today with new features designed to deter counterfeiters, all after an almost two-year delay.

“The new design incorporates security features that make it easier to authenticate, but harder to replicate,” said Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome H. Powell.

The two new features designed to make the bills harder to copy are a blue 3-D security ribbon with images of bells and 100s, and a color-changing bell in an inkwell.

More details about the new bills can be found on the Bureau of Engraving and Printing website. We wrote yesterday on how the new currency rollout can happen in the midst of a government shutdown.

Our public media colleagues at Marketplace have an infographic about the global circulation of U.S. currency, including the $100 bill.