NEW YORK, 10 October 2003 — The most secure currency in US history went into national circulation yesterday, in the form of a colorized 20-dollar bill that Treasury officials promise will be a counterfeiter’s worst nightmare.

Some 950 million individual bills have been printed in the first run and will slowly replace the old-design notes which will be retained by banks as the new notes make their way into cash registers and wallets.

At first glance, the new 20-dollar bill looks pretty much the same as the old one, with former President Andrew Jackson on the front — albeit an enhanced portrait - and the White House on the back.

The main change is the addition of color, along with other distinct new security features that makes it harder to counterfeit.

“This is a historic milestone on two fronts,” Tom Ferguson, director of the Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing, told reporters in front of an enormous billboard in New York’s Times Square showing a blown-up image of the note.

“For the first time in modern history, US currency features background colors other than black and green, and, more importantly, this currency is the most secure currency ever, to protect against counterfeiting.” Security features include a watermark visible from both sides, a vertical plastic security thread with “USA TWENTY” visible when held up to the light, and color-shifting ink in which the numeral 20 changes from copper to green when the note is tilted.

New versions of the 50 and 100-dollar bills are expected to follow in 2004 and 2005.

“The fact is there is no such thing as a counterfeit-proof anything, but this is as close as we think we can get,” said Ferguson, adding that the Treasury planned to update its bills every seven to 10 years to stay a step ahead of high-tech forgers.

In 1995, according to the Secret Service, less than one percent of counterfeit notes detected in the US was digitally produced. By 2002, that number had grown to nearly 40 percent.

Though the new bill has additional colors, anyone expecting a psychedelic explosion might be disappointed. The spectral shift is in the form of “subtle green, peach and blue colors” in the background.

So subtle in fact, that many members of the public needed to have the changes pointed out.

“I see the blue, but where’s the peach?” said shop owner Rosy Badillo. “It’s kind of pretty, I suppose, and I guess we’ll just have to take their word that it’s safer.” The new note is legal tender effective immediately, a point Ferguson proved by buying three “I Love New York” T-shirts from a Times Square street vendor, Casildo Caballero, who suddenly found himself swarmed by camera crews and photographers.

“This is my second proudest moment after joining the army to fight for my country,” Caballero, 46, declared as he held out the bill to the press. “I’m going to frame it and put it above my marriage certificate,” he added. The government estimates that counterfeit notes in circulation worldwide represent about one or two of every 10,000 genuine notes.

About 60 percent of the counterfeit notes detected being passed in the United States in 2002 originated outside the country.

The 100-dollar bill is the most commonly counterfeited note abroad, while the 20-dollar bill is the most commonly forged domestically.

Redesign of the five- and 10-dollar notes is under consideration, but there are no plans to redesign the one- and two-dollar bills.