Ben Gets a Facelift

You may have seen the recent articles that announced yesterday's reissue of the $100 bill. I thought it should have looked like this ...

But a different design was selected. The new hundreds contain features meant to make them more difficult to counterfeit ... which will probably slow down the counterfeiters for at least 20 minutes. this is what the new hundred looks like ...

For most of us, who seldom see anything larger than a $20 bill, this is an item of only passing interest; nevertheless, there are some interesting things to know about the new Benjamins (so nicknamed because of the image of Benjamin Franklin they bear). You can read about it here, or read my summary below.

There are about $900 billion worth of Benjamins in circulation, and most of them are overseas. During the second Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan, entire pallets of hundred dollar bills were shipped overseas and used to rent the loyalty of Iraqis and Afghans.

The only US banknote in larger circulation is the good old George Washington dollar bill, although the Benjamin is catching up fast ... the number of hundreds in circulation has quadrupled in the last 20 years. There's even a catchy song titled, "The President on the Dollar" by Mitch Miller ...

The estimated useful life of a $100 bill is 15 years, the longest of any denomination; the $10 bill (known as a "Ham" for its image of Alexander Hamilton) has the shortest, a mere 4.2 years. Paper money is often referred to as "folding money," and US currency is designed to be able to be folded 8,000 times before breaking*.

Perhaps the humble one-dollar bill needs a makeover, too ... here's my suggestion ...

I think it's fitting, don't you?

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Congress is working hard at finding more efficient ways to break US currency.