New $5 Bill To Circulate in Early 2008

The newly redesigned $5 bills will be safer, smarter and more secure, according to the U.S. Treasury. The Treasury introduced
the updated design in September and will circulate the new bills in early 2008.

“The new bills will be harder to fake and easier to check. They’ll also stay ahead of savvy counterfeiters and be more secure to protect the integrity of U.S. currency,” says Rich Harper, manager of Cash operations at the St. Louis Fed. “The new design incorporates features that are more difficult for counterfeiters to reproduce well; so, they often do not try and hope that cash handlers and the public won’t check their fake money.”

Two new design features will help deter counterfeiters:

• The $5 bill will include two watermarks: one is a large 5 to the right of Abraham Lincoln’s portrait; the other is a column of three 5s to the left of the portrait.
• The embedded security thread will be moved to the right of Lincoln’s portrait. The letters “USA” followed by the number 5 will run in a pattern along a thread that is visible from both sides of the bill.

Help prepare cash handlers and consumers to recognize the new design and protect themselves against counterfeits. Download or order free educational materials (available in multiple languages) at www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney.

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