From: pnet@proliberty.com
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 17:20:07 +0800
To: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: Re: IP: Funny Money: New $20 FRNs are here
Message-ID: <v02140b01b2308b890230@[208.25.61.131]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Excerpt from the following:
>It also incorporates several
>>security features that have proved effective against would-be
>>counterfeiters: a watermark; enhanced security thread;

Of course no mention is made here of the enhanced ability for goons to
steal your money.

It has been reported that these 'security threads' enable detection
equipment at airports to measure, or estimate, the amount of cash a person
is carrying. This further enables seizures which are now taking place in
the proximity of US borders, with the excuse that the carrier of the cash
could be 'intended' to cross a border, without filing a customs report.
Mere possesion of 'large' amounts of cash, in the proximity of a US border,
is coming to be considered 'prima facie' evidence of 'money-laundering'.

See previous message:
>Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 08:32:43 -0400
>To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
>From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
>Subject: IP: Tougher laws are sought to seize cash

If I had been smart enough to see this coming when they came out with the
new security threads in $100 bills, I never would have traded the old ones
in.

Of course, carrying gold or silver will set off the metal detectors too.

I wonder if diamonds show up on the scanners?

- Tom Paine


At 3:27 AM 9/25/98, Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote:
>From: believer@telepath.com
>Subject: IP: Funny Money: New $20 FRNs are here
>Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 17:05:38 -0500
>To: believer@telepath.com
>
>Source:  US Newswire
>http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0924-109.txt
>
>U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve Issue New $20 Note
>U.S. Newswire
>24 Sep 10:45
>
> U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve Issue New $20 Note
> To: National and Financial Desks
> Contact: Hamilton Dix of the U.S. Department of the Treasury,
>          202-622-2960, or
>          Bob Moore of the Federal Reserve,
>          202-452-3215
>
>   WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Treasury Secretary Robert
>E. Rubin and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan today
>announced the issuance of the redesigned $20 note, which includes new
>and modified security features to deter counterfeiting of U.S.
>currency.
>
>   Rubin and U.S. Treasurer Mary Ellen Withrow marked the
>issuance of the new notes in a ceremony at Treasury's Cash Room in
>Washington, D.C. More than two dozen regional events hosted by
>Federal Reserve banks and branches and major retailers were also
>conducted around the country.
>
>   "We have introduced a series of features that greatly raise the
>hurdle for counterfeiters," Rubin said. "Together these features
>amount to a formidable tool, and make spotting a counterfeit
>note easier than ever. For them to be effective, it is important that
>people stop for a moment to look for the new features."
>
>   The new $20 will replace older notes gradually, and older series
>$20 notes still in good condition will be recirculated. About
>$83 billion worth of $20 notes is currently in circulation, 80
>percent of those in the U.S. More than $450 billion worth of
>U.S. currency circulates around the globe.
>
>   The Series 1996 $20 note is the third U.S. currency note to be
>redesigned to include new and modified security features. New $10 and
>$5 notes are expected to be issued simultaneously in 2000, and a new
>$1 note with a more modest redesign will follow.
>
>   "We are confident that the introduction of this third redesigned
>note will be as smooth as that of the $100 and $50 notes," Chairman
>Greenspan said. "Older notes will not be recalled or devalued. All
>existing notes will continue to be legal tender."
>
>   Like the Series 1996 $100 and $50 notes introduced since 1996, the
>new $20 note has a familiar appearance. The size, color and
>historical subjects have not changed. It also incorporates several
>security features that have proved effective against would-be
>counterfeiters: a watermark; enhanced security thread; fine-line
>printing patterns; color-shifting ink; and a larger, off-center
>portrait that is the most noticeable change in the overall
>architecture of the note. There are also two features for the blind
>and visually impaired. The new $20 note includes a capability that
>will allow the development of technology to help the blind ascertain
>the denomination of their currency. In addition, the $20 and $50
>notes have a large numeral on the back that make the notes easier for
>millions of Americans with low vision to read.
>
>   The continuing introduction of redesigned notes is a critical
>component of the Federal government's anti-counterfeiting effort.
>The new series aims to maintain the security of the nation's currency
>as computerized reprographic technologies such as color copiers,
>scanners and printers become more sophisticated and more readily
>available. The $20 note is the most frequently counterfeited note in
>the United States.
>
>   Since the $20 note is so widely used in daily commerce and most
>frequently dispensed by ATMs, broad nationwide recognition of the new
>note when it is introduced will minimize apprehension on the part of
>the public. A public education campaign now underway encourages the
>public and people who handle cash every day to become familiar with
>the design and security features of the new notes. Retailers and
>financial institutions are educating their employees and customers by
>sending posters to their outlets, training cashiers, offering
>pamphlets to the public, and including information about the new note
>in advertising circulars and on shopping bags. More than 100
>constituency organizations have helped reach small business owners,
>loss prevention managers, visually impaired and older Americans, and
>others with a stake in the new note's introduction. U.S. embassies
>and consulates are using materials translated into 15 languages to
>conduct localized education outreach to ensure that local users of
>U.S. currency as well as financial institutions are prepared for the
>issuance of the new note.
>
>   Fact sheets on the new note, the history of U.S. currency and
>related agencies are available at http://www.moneyfactory.com.
>
> -0-
> /U.S. Newswire  202-347-2770/
> 09/24 10:45
>
>Copyright 1998, U.S. Newswire
>-----------------------
>NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
>distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
>interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and
>educational purposes only. For more information go to:
>http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
>-----------------------
>
>
>
>
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