Redesigned $5 Bill to Enter Circulation March 13

The newly designed $5 bill will enter circulation on March 13, 2008, the Federal Reserve Board and U.S. Treasury announced today. This alerts businesses that manufacture and use vending and self-checkout machines that they have 90 days to adapt their machines to accept the new bill.

On March 13, Federal Reserve banks will begin distributing the redesigned $5 bills to customer banks, which then distribute currency to businesses and consumers. The new bills will first begin circulating in the United States and gradually in other countries as international banks place orders for $5 bills from the Federal Reserve. Older-design $5 notes will continue to circulate and maintain their full face value. Therefore, it will not be necessary to trade in old $5 bills for new ones.

“The U.S. government has been working with the business community and central banks to ensure a smooth transition for the new $5 bill,” said Rose Pianalto, Assistant to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board. “Because the $5 bill is used so extensively in vending and self-checkout machines, encouraging businesses to get those machines updated to accept the new design has been a particular focus for us.”

“Any business that operates machines that accept $5 bills should contact the machines’ manufacturers and ensure they get adjusted to accept the new design,” said Dawn Haley, Chief of the Office of External Relations at the Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing. “At the same time, for any business that deals in cash, this is a good time to start training employees on what security features to look for in the new $5 bill, before they start seeing it in their cash registers.”

The new $5 bill incorporates state-of-the-art security features that are easy to use by cash handlers and consumers alike. Hold the bills to the light to check for these features:

• Watermarks: There are now two watermarks on the redesigned $5 bill. A large number “5” watermark is located to the right of the portrait replacing the previous watermark portrait of President Lincoln found on the older design $5 bills. A second watermark—a column of three smaller “5”s—has been added to the new $5 bill design and is positioned to the left of the portrait.
• Security Thread: The embedded security thread runs vertically and has been moved from its position to the left of the portrait in older-design $5 notes to the right of the portrait on the redesigned $5 bill. The letters “USA” followed by the number “5” in an alternating pattern are visible along the thread from both sides of the bill. The thread glows blue under ultraviolet light.

Free educational materials are available to businesses, financial institutions, trade and professional associations, citizen groups and individuals to prepare cash handlers and consumers to recognize the new design and protect themselves against counterfeits. Since 2003, the U.S. government has distributed more than 78 million pieces of public education and training materials about the new $5, $10, $20 and $50 bill redesigns. Materials are available to order or download in multiple languages at https://www.moneyfactory.gov.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Information about the retail location where U.S. government officials will spend the first new $5 bill will be available on January 14, 2008.