On this day in 1996, the $100 bill got its first design change in over 60 years! The main reason for the update was to deter counterfeiting with the rise of new computer printing and scanning technology. It has since been redesigned with changes to not only thwart counterfeiting but to help vision-impaired people and to make it easier to quickly check authenticity.
The $100 bill was first produced in 1914. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin has been on the obverse from the beginning, and it’s one of two bills that doesn’t feature a U.S. president. The other is the $10 bill with Alexander Hamilton’s portrait. There are several reasons for Ben Franklin being chosen for this bill. He played a key role in founding the nation and contributed the most to the cause of independence. He was the only founding father to sign the 3 most important documents that let to our independence, and he also was one of the signers of the Constitution. Franklin was chosen by the Secretary of the Treasury, with input from various sources including historians, scholars, and the general public.
The $100 bill has been the largest denomination printed and circulated since 1969 when the $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 bills were retired. As of 2018, the average lifespan of a circulating $100 bill is 22.8 years and they cost 8.6 cents each to produce. According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, an estimated 80% of $100 bills are in other countries! Possible reasons include $100 bills being used as a reserve currency against economic instability, and the use of the bills for criminal activities. Learn more here.