The U.S. Consulate General Lagos, on Thursday, introduced the new $100 note with new security features to the Nigerian public.
The new note went into circulation on October 8, 2013 during the U.S. Government shutdown over federal spending.
Dehab Ghebreab, acting U.S. consul general in Lagos,, while introducing the new note in a media briefing, said it was necessary that U.S. Government redesign the currency to stay ahead of counterfeiting threats and keep counterfeiting levels low.
She said: “It is necessary to inform the general public of this development as half to two-thirds of the hundred dollar bills in circulation is in the international community and this will help businesses and consumers tell whether a note is genuine”.
The redesigned $100 note includes two new security features: a blue 3-D security ribbon with images of bells and 100s, and a colour-changing bell in an inkwell. The new features, and additional features retained from the previous design, such as a watermark, offer the public a simple way to visually authenticate the redesigned $100 note.
Dehab added that all U.S. currency remains a legal tender no matter when they were issued and advised that it is not necessary to trade in older-design note for the new ones.
She said, “Even in five years time, the $100 bill will still remain valid as it is the U.S. Government policy that all designs of currency remain legal tender, regardless of when they were issued. The Federal Reserve will take the old bill out gradually,” she said.