New $20 bill should hinder counterfeiters

Wednesday, May 20, 1998 | 11:22 a.m.

Like the $50 and $100 bill before it, the features of the $20 bill will be changed to combat counterfeiting.

The Federal Reserve Bank will unveil the modified bill, which will begin circulation in the fall, today.

The new $20 bill will have a larger portrait of Andrew Jackson with added detail making it more difficult to duplicate. The portrait, slightly off center, leaves space for a watermark -- identical to the portrait -- which can be seen from both sides when held to a light.

Joe Saitta, special agent in charge of the Secret Service office in Las Vegas, said the Federal Reserve Bank didn't want to completely change the look of the $20 bill since it is a worldwide medium of exchange.

Saitta said the change in features will help protect against counterfeiting whether it be from printing skills with a plate and print paper, or computer generated counterfeits using a scanner.

The Secret Service reported that during the 1997 fiscal year, a total of $136,205,241 million in counterfeit money was confiscated. They said that in the United States, the most counterfeited denomination is the $20 note. The $100 note is the most common foreign-produced counterfeit note.

The security thread and microprinting around the portrait border, which were added to bills in 1990, is on the new $20 bill as well.

Color shifting ink -- that looks green when viewed straight on, but appears black at an angle -- is also on the number of the lower right corner on the front.

Saitta said the new $20 bills will be phased into circulation, replacing older ones that are collected and sent to the Federal Reserve Bank. He said it will be two or three years before the old $20s are out of circulation.

The $100 bill was changed in March 1996. The new $50 bill received its facelift in October 1997. Lower denominations will follow.