Front Office Football Central - Ulysses S. Grant gets a facelift

Color-Enhanced $50 Bill Debuts
By Mary MacVean, Times Staff Writer

People flush enough to handle a $50 bill today could get their hands on a new note, more secure from counterfeiting than its predecessors, officials say.

Federal Reserve Banks begin distributing the notes through commercial banks today. U.S. officials used one of the new notes to buy an American flag in a Washington, D.C., shop.

Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general and 18th president, remains on the front of the bill, and the U.S. Capitol remains on the back. The background is blue and red, with an American flag and a small star.

The design was made public in April.

The bill's security features include watermarks and an embedded security strip and ink that changes color when the bill is tilted.

Old bills will remain in circulation until they wear out, said Louise Roseman, the Federal Reserve Board's Director of Federal Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems.

A new $20 bill began circulating last October, and a new $10 bill is to be issued next spring. The $100 note is slated to be redesigned, but no time has been set. No plans have been announced for smaller bills.

There is nearly $700 billion in circulation worldwide, and as much as two-thirds of U.S. currency is held outside the United States. About one $50 bill in 25,000 is counterfeit, according to the Federal Reserve.