New $100 Bills Shipped to US Banks

Contain new anti-counterfeiting techniques

The Federal Reserve began supplying banks on Tuesday with billions of redesigned $100 bills that incorporate advanced anti-counterfeiting features, the U.S. central bank said.

The notes, which retain the image of American statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin, include two new security features - a blue three-dimensional security ribbon with images of bells and 100s, and a color-changing bell in an inkwell, the Fed said in a statement.

The $100 bills, the biggest U.S. denomination known in American slang as "Benjamins," also keep security features from the previous design, such as a watermark.