ArticleU.S. Consulate General Press Releases (1997)

Newly Designed U.S. $50 Bills Ready for Fall 1997 Circulation

News Release
August 20, 1997
Wednesday

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Preparing for worldwide circulation in the fall of 1997, the United States government is printing newly-designed $50 bills. These include for the first time a special feature that will make the currency more accessible to all users of U.S. currency, especially those with low-vision. The new $50 note is also the second in the U.S. currency series to include new and improved security features designed to help prevent counterfeiting.

The redesigned $50 note will include a large dark numeral "50" on a light background in the lower right comer on the back of the note. This will make the note easier to identify for the millions of people around the world with low-vision, as well as helping all users of U.S. currency identify the $50 bill in low-light situations. The new $20 note scheduled for introduction in 1998 - and each subsequent denomination - will also include this feature. It was recommended by the National Academy of Sciences, which was asked by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) to study ways to assist the visually impaired.

The new $50 bill, like the newly-designed $100 note introduced last year, is another important step in an ongoing process to maintain the security of U.S. currency as technologies such as color copiers, scanners and printers become more sophisticated and more accessible.

"With this redesign, government demonstrates its ability to stay ahead of the technology curve and meet the needs of all those people around the world who use and trust our currency," U. S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin said. "At the same time, the new notes retain their basic American look and feel."

Even as the new notes gradually replace the older U.S. currency, the older bills will maintain their full value, and will not be recalled. "Holders of U.S. currency worldwide can rest assured that the U.S. government will not recall its currency," said Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. "As older notes reach the Federal Reserve from depository institutions, they will simply be replaced by the newer notes. Both the old design and the new issue will be honored at full face value."

Greenspan advised people who exchange U.S. dollars outside the country to seek out well-established currency handlers who have reputations for charging the fairest fees.

The release of the new $50 bill marks the second in a series of annual releases of newly designed currency. The new series $100 bill was successfully issued in March 1996. As of May 30, more than forty percent of all $100 bills in circulation were Series 1996 notes. "We expect as smooth an introduction process as we experienced last year, when millions of users of U.S. currency embraced the new $100 notes," Chairman Greenspan said.

The greatest strength of the new $50 note, as with the $100 bill, is the combined use of a number of different security features in a pre-emptive strike against counterfeiters. In order to make room for the new features, the overall architecture of the note has been changed somewhat and its borders simplified. Microprinting and security threads, which first appeared in the 1991 series currency, will also appear in the new notes. They have been effective deterrents against counterfeiting. New features of the redesigned $50 note include:

• A large numeral "50" on the back of the bill.
   
• A larger portrait, moved off-center to create more space for a watermark.
   
• The watermark to the right of the portrait, depicting the same historical figure as the portrait. The watermark can only be seen when held up to the light.
   
• A security thread to the right of the portrait that glows yellow when exposed to ultraviolet light in a dark environment. The words "USA 50" and a picture of a flag, which itself contains microprinting, are printed on the thread. (In the $100 bill, the thread is placed to the left of the portrait. It is printed with the words "USA 100," and it glows red.)
   
• Color-shifting ink used to print the numeral in the lower right corner on the front of the bill. This causes the numeral to change from green to black when viewed from different angles.
   
• Microprinting along the border and in President Ulysses S. Grant's shirt collar. (In the $100 bill, microprinting is found in the numeral in the lower left corner of the bill and on Benjamin Franklin's lapel.)
   
• Concentric fine-line printing in the background of the Grant portrait, and on the back of the note. This type of printing is difficult to copy.
   
• Other features for machine authentication and processing of the currency.

In addition to the low-vision feature, the back of the $50 note looks different in several ways. The engraving of the U.S. Capitol has been enlarged to include more detail, and to provide a more contemporary view of the west front of the Capitol. The security thread images and characters are also printed in two different heights.

With an estimated two-thirds of U.S. currency in circulation overseas, the U.S. government has launched a worldwide campaign to educate all users of its currency about these design changes. This will help people who handle U.S. currency to authenticate the new notes.

"Our public education campaign has informed millions and millions of people around the world about our redesigned currency," said U.S. Treasurer Mary Ellen Withrow. "We have worked hard to ensure that the people who use our currency, depend on our currency and trust our currency know about the new notes, and know how to verify their authenticity."

The new features were developed by the New Currency Design Task Force, which included representatives from the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve System, U.S. Secret Service and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). A separate but complementary report by the National Academy of Sciences on counterfeit deterrence was released in December 1993.

More information about the redesigned U.S. currency is available through Treasury's interactive fax system at (202) 622-2040 or on the Treasury's website: www.ustreas.gov.

*    *    *    *    *