New $10 Bill Enters Circulation

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Retailers should expect to start seeing the redesigned $10 bill in their stores, as the new note entered circulation yesterday at the National Archives, home of the U.S. Constitution -- which figures prominently in the new note's design.

The notes will begin circulating immediately in the United States, and will then be introduced in other countries in the days and weeks ahead, as international banks place orders for $10 notes from the Federal Reserve.

"Staying ahead of would-be counterfeiters is a top priority of the U.S. government, and in order to do that, our currency will need to be redesigned every seven to 10 years," said U.S. Treasurer Anna Cabral. "Through the introduction of new designs with state-of-the-art security features, we will continue to safeguard the integrity of U.S. currency and help protect businesses and consumers."

The new $10 note incorporates easy-to-use security features for people to check their money -- including color shifting ink, a watermark, and a security thread -- and subtle background colors in shades of orange, yellow, and red. While consumers should not use color to check the authenticity of their currency, color does add complexity to the note, making counterfeiting more difficult. Different colors are being used for different denominations, which will help everyone -- particularly those who are visually impaired -- to tell denominations apart.

Since unveiling the new $10 note design last September, the U.S. government has distributed more than 10 million pieces of educational material with information about the new $10 note to prepare businesses, stakeholder organizations and consumers worldwide for the new note's issue.

As with the redesigned $20 note, retailers and self-checkout vendors said they don't foresee any problems using the new notes in self-checkout machines, as the systems are upgraded months in advance to handle the new currency.

"I haven't seen the new bills in my stores yet, so I haven't been able to test them out," Paul Chiz, who is in charge of retail systems for Allentown, Pa.-based Ahart's Market told Progressive Grocer. "But C&L solutions, the reseller who maintains my systems, said the equipment was ready to handle it."

The government too, works to ensure the transition to the new bills goes smoothly.

"Each time we issue a redesigned denomination, our goal is to ensure its smooth transition into daily commerce both domestically and abroad," said Bureau of Engraving and Printing director Larry Felix. "Over the past six months, we have worked with manufacturers of ATMs and other machines that receive and dispense cash, as well as retailers, small businesses and international governments, so that they may prepare for today's day of issue of the redesigned $10 note."
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