October 09, 2013

Finally, the new $100 bill hits the streets

By Ylan Q. Mui, Wednesday, October 9, 12:24 AM

The government accomplished at least one thing Tuesday: It released a new $100 bill!

Okay, so maybe it has taken Uncle Sam more than three years to debut the new Benjamins. And maybe the printing got messed up twice, leaving some bills with blank spots and others with reportedly too much ink. (Those had to be destroyed.)

But the new $100 bill is here, with fancy new security features, such as an image of the Liberty Bell that appears in an inkwell and a 3D blue motion strip down the center.

Here are some more interesting facts about our favorite greenback:

■About $900 billion worth of $100 bills is in circulation, and about half to two-thirds of it is held overseas. The Federal Reserve is overseeing the introduction of the new bill and targeting much of its messaging to foreign countries. Judging from the list of languages that the Fed’s marketing materials are translated into, major holders of hundreds include Azerbaijan, Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Korea.