When I met Thomas R. Hipschen, he mentioned-without-saying that this was a possibility (as I questioned him, he said he'd have to kill me if he actually did tell me anything!). Mr. Hipschen is the artist who did all the new large portraits on US currency, and (like our mutual friend Boggs) he thinks a lot about counterfeiting as part of his job, so listening to him was fascinating! JMR
Would Andrew Jackson look pretty in pink? From: "R. A. Hettinga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 22:29:44 -0400 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" <http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/0502/15currency.html>http://www.accessatlanta. com/ajc/news/0502/15currency.html [ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 5/15/02 ] U.S. weighs colored currency to thwart counterfeiters By WILLIAM WAN Cox News Service WASHINGTON -- Would Andrew Jackson look pretty in pink? We may find out soon. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill is considering printing U.S. currency in different colors to stay one step ahead of counterfeiters. The government redesigned bank notes starting in 1996 with new anti-counterfeiting measures, but the changes merely kept the percentage of bogus bills from increasing. Officials say that as criminals adopt new technology, new modifications will be needed every few years. Colorful cash is the first step. The Treasury Department hasn't decided which denominations to print in which colors, but says it may start issuing the new money, code-named NexGen, as soon as the middle of next year. "All indications are that the program is on track and we're going to redesign," said Jim Hagedorn, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. "But it depends on O'Neill. He could still say no." Treasury officials have testified the last two years before Congress that redesigning currency is the only way to keep up with counterfeiters. "Expect a new look every seven to 10 years," said Hagedorn. Last year authorities seized $66.6 million in counterfeit notes and found another $49 million in circulation, according to the Secret Service. Only about three-hundreds of 1 percent of the currency in circulation is counterfeit, but technology has made the job easier. Since the 1996 redesign, counterfeiting in general has leveled off, but the percentage generated by computers jumped from 0.5 in 1995 to nearly 50 percent in 2000. "The new 1996 bills came just in time to prevent a boom in counterfeiting, " said James Mackin, an agent with the Secret Service's counterfeiting division. Old-school forgeries required hard-to-make plates, paper embedded with red and blue security fibers, and a printing press half the size of a Volkswagen. "With laser printers, color copiers and scanners, you skip the whole process," said Mackin. "The quality is worse, but it's still good enough -- all you have to do is fool one person." How color might prevent the next counterfeiting boom was something that no U.S. official would discuss. "It all depends on the combination of colors used," said Paul Marsch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Canadians have been printing colored money for over 66 years, but counterfeiting there remains a problem. The color now used in Canadian notes does nothing against counterfeiting, said Marsch, "but the potential is there." There's also a practical side to color. "You'll find it's easier to spot the different bills," he said. If O'Neill approves the NexGen program, the process of printing currency would stay largely the same. The biggest change in printing NexGen bills would be that the off-white paper used now would first be stained front and back with "subtle color." Producing the NexGen bills would cost about $1 million a year, relatively little in federal government terms. But the advertising campaign could cost as much as $50 million, according to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. NexGen designers already have plans to work with businesses and agencies that use machines that accept large-denomination bills, such as the U.S. Postal Service, public transit systems and casinos. Most ordinary vending machines won't need adjustments, because the rarely counterfeited $1 and $2 bills won't change. U.S. bank notes had changed little for 65 years until 1996, when a surge of counterfeiting inspired changes in the $100 bill down to the $5 over four years. The redesigned bills had new watermarks, bigger and off-center portraits, "color-shifting" ink that changed hue when viewed from different angles, "microprinted" text that photocopiers can't reproduce, and embedded plastic security threads that glow different colors for each denomination under ultraviolet light. But such changes -- and even colorful currency -- are tame compared to some foreign currencies, which feature plastic paper, holograms, metallic patches and secret words that light up under ultraviolet rays. With lower circulation, other countries can afford more elaborate security features. U.S. currency is the most widely circulated with nearly $600 billion worldwide, and officials want to keep costs low, near the current 5 cents per note. But American designers study foreign cash to collect ideas for the future, said Hagedorn. "Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a counterfeit-proof document," he said. "So we'll keep redesigning as long as they keep counterfeiting." -- ----------------- R. A. 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