The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, along with its five branches, will begin distributing redesigned $100 notes to depository institutions in the Sixth Federal Reserve District on Monday, March 25, 1996. The series 1996 notes, which have several new counterfeit deterrence features, will begin to appear at some depository institutions on March 26 and will be available to many customers by the end of March or early April.
The new notes will replace older series notes as they are deposited with the Fed by depository institutions. Old notes will not be recalled or devalued; they will co-circulate with the new notes and will always be legal tender.
The $100 note is the first denomination in the 1996 series to be redesigned; smaller denomination notes will be introduced at approximately one-year intervals. The new note contains several security enhancements. Among these new features are an enlarged, slightly off-center portrait of Ben Franklin, a watermark depicting the same portrait and visible only when held up to a bright light, color-shifting ink used to print the denomination number in the lower right-hand corner, a security thread in a unique position on each denomination, microprinting in the numeral on the note's lower left-hand corner and on Ben Franklin's lapel, and concentric fine-line printing, which is difficult to copy well, on the back ground of the portrait and the back of the note.
Additional background materials and resources are available:
- U.S. Treasury's interactive fax system at (202) 622-2040 (document #591) contains a complete index of available materials.
- Television stations can obtain B-roll by calling the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at (202) 874-3019 or the nearest Sixth District Federal Reserve Branch.
- Treasury's World Wide Web site is http://www.ustreas.gov.
- For additional information, call your nearest U.S. embassy or Treasury's Global Information Center at (202) 622-2970.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. As part of the nation's central banking system, the Atlanta Fed takes part in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous commercial banks, and provides a variety of financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government.