WASHINGTON (AP) – The world will have its first look at a more colourful Abraham Lincoln this month.
U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing director Larry Felix said the new $5 bill will be shown to the world by way of an Internet broadcast Sept. 20, which the government has dubbed a “Wi-5” event.
The new currency will not go into circulation until early next year, giving time for vending machine companies to retool their machines to accept the new bill. Felix said that is especially important for the $5 bill because it is heavily used in vending machine transactions.
Originally, the government was going to exempt the $5 bill from the design makeovers introduced in re-cently, but changed its mind after counterfeiters began bleaching the ink off the current $5 bills and printing fake $100 bills on the bleached paper.
The new $5 bill will include the introduction of pale colours into the background of the bills and adding other colours such as the blue American eagle, which is on the $20 and the red torch symbolizing the Statute of Liberty on the $10.
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