Government unveils new, more secure $5 bill design

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government on Thursday unveiled a new, more secure design for the $5 bill that will be issued and enter circulation in early 2008, followed by a new $100 bill.

The Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department said the new $5 bill design, unveiled entirely online for the first time, will incorporate improved security features that make it harder to counterfeit but easier for consumers and businesses to check for authenticity.

The new bill will have two watermarks, including a large number "5" watermark located to the right of President Abraham Lincoln's portrait and a column of three smaller "5"s to the left of the portrait.

The Fed said the new note also will have embedded security thread that glows blue under ultraviolet light and has an alternating pattern of "USA" and "5".

The Fed and Treasury said the new $5 bill will also help protect against a method of counterfeiting that bleaches a $5 bill and prints over it to create a fake $100 bill, by eliminating similarities between the two bills.

Last year, the U.S. Secret Service and international authorities seized just over $53 million in counterfeit bills before they entered circulation, the agencies said. Nearly $65 million that had been passed into circulation was detected and removed worldwide.