New $20 bill hits circulation
09:56 AM PDT on Thursday, October 9, 2003
SEATTLE - Your green $20 bills won’t be so green anymore.
New colorful $20 bills go into circulation Thursday. They’re tinted with a dash of color and other features aimed at thwarting forgers to counterfeit the bills. The frame around Andrew Jackson’s portrait is also gone.
The Federal Reserve is calling the bills the "most secure note the U.S. government has ever produced."
To kick things off in the Northwest, Jim Whitaker, the first American to summit Mount Everest, will spend Seattle’s first new $20 bill at a Starbucks.
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The new $20 bill entered circulation Thursday, October 8, 2003.
New versions of the $50 and $100 bills are expected to follow in 2004 and 2005. The Treasury Department said it will be updating its bills every seven to 10 years to stay a step ahead of high-tech counterfeiters.
There will be no recall or devaluation of the old bills. As the new currency is phased in, the old notes will be retired by the Federal Reserve when they are returned through the banking system.