The New Hundy: A Study Guide
Because you could stand to learn a thing or two about the Benjamin
By on August 14, 2013
The hundred is the ultimate icon of American monetary strength. "It's the closest thing to a global currency," Chris Jones writes, "with about 60 percent of them somewhere other than here, making the Benjamin the most legal and threatened of tenders." It's getting a makeover, and we're here to look at what's different and why. Because this is your money, and it's changing right before your eyes.
THE WATERMARK:
A smaller, far less detailed portrait of Ben Franklin is visible when it is held up to light. The linen content in U.S. money makes its watermarks fuzzy; in contrast, the watermarks in all-cotton currency look razor-sharp.
THE VIGNETTE:
Independence Hall, part of the Franklin narrative, is featured on the reverse side of the current hundred as well as on the new bill. But the engraving on the new note — dating from 1929 — depicts the building's back rather than its front.
THE RIBBON:
The new plastic security ribbon looks as though it were threaded into the paper. (It's visible only on the note's face.) In fact, the sheet of paper is somehow made around the ribbon — through a secret process — with a trio of narrow paper bridges helping to keep it in place. Visible within the ribbon are three-dimensional images of two icons.
THE MICROPRINTING:
New microtext has been added to the traditional engraving of Franklin near his collar. The engraving itself, done by Thomas Hipschen in 1992, is the same as the one used on the current hundred; it's based on an original portrait painted by Joseph Siffred Duplessis around 1785. Bureau engravers are forbidden from signing their work in any way.
THE QUILL:
Along with the color-shifting ink well, the quill pen drawn by Brian Thompson unifies the composition and sharpens the emphasis on Franklin's story in the new design.
THE COLOR-SHIFTING INK:
The 100 in the lower right corner turns from copper to green — just as a bell in the adjacent inkwell appears and disappears — when the bill is tilted in the light. The ink contains microscopic metallic flakes that reflect different wavelengths of light.
Read more: New Hundred Dollar Bill Facts - New Hundred Information - Esquire
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