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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1998
> October
> October 2, 1998:
Hour One: Money, Money, Money
 | No, those strange-looking twenty dollar bills aren't Monopoly money gone astray. Last week, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing began issuing a new series of twenty dollar bills with more security measures designed to foil would-be counterfeiters. The bills, which are similar in style to the $100 bills issued two years ago and the $50 bills issued last year, may look odd - but the Treasury department hopes that the redesign will pay off in the long run. We'll talk to two money and counterfeiting experts about scientific efforts to stem the tide of fake money. | We'll also try to find out just how dirty your money is. Think about it - it passes from hand to hand and wallet to wallet, spends time pressed up against other bills or crumpled in pockets, and then is off again. You hand a bill to the person in the sandwich shop, who gets a dab of mayo on the bill before giving it in change to someone else an hour later. Could your money make you sick?
One study found that 18% of coins and 7% of bills carried disease-causing bacteria, though most of them were not serious threats. Join guest host Dan Charles on this hour of Science Friday to find out more.
Some security measures in the new bills...
1. Second portrait in watermark here.
2. "20" in corner is in color-changing ink -
it's green viewed straight on, black at an angle.
3. Cotton/linen blend paper contains red and blue threads.
4. Microprinting- "USA20" inside the number 20,
"The United States of America" along bottom edge of oval.
5. Fine lines in image make duplication difficult.
6. Security strip embedded in paper says "USA TWENTY."
Tiny flags in strip have "20" in star area. |
Guests:
Don Brewer
Special Agent in Charge, Counterfeit Division
United States Secret Service
Treasury Department
Washinton, D.C.
Thomas Ferguson
Acting Director
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Treasury Department
Washington, D.C.
Shirley Lowe
Assistant Clinical Professor, Community Health Systems
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Books/Articles Discussed:
October, 1998 Discover Magazine theme issue on money
Related Links:
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
U.S. Secret Service (click on "money" to learn about counterfeiting)
NOVA broadcast on money
National Research Council report: "Counterfeit Deterrent Features for the Next-Generation Currency Design (1993)
(search for "currency design" at the site to find report.)
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