NEW DESIGNS: PUZZLING VENDING MACHINES, SLOTS

Those redesigned bills distributed by the U.S. Treasury this summer can't be used to buy stamps, subway and bus passes or items in some vending machines.

They also can't be used in the gambling industry's slot machines.

The problem? The software in many machines can't read the newly designed bills.

The facelift to $5 and $10 bills is part of a larger redesign plan to add security features to currency to thwart counterfeiting. During the past five years, redesigned $20, $50 and $100 bills were released.

No decision has been made whether to redesign the $1 note, said Una Gallagher, public affairs specialist with the Treasury Department. However, the Sacagawea $1 gold coin is in circulation.

The number of people who use $5 and $10 bills in vending machines is small:

* An estimated 6 million food and beverage vending machines accept $5 and $10 notes (about a million of them have been modified).

* The U.S. Postal Service must replace hardware on its 12,000 stamp vending machines.

* Thousands and thousands of slot machines have to have new "validators."

Vending machine owners are working to modify their machines to accept the new bills, said Larry Felix of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The process will likely take some time, but Felix is confident the changeover will go smoothly.

Brian Allen, a spokesman for the National Automatic Merchandising Association, said: "Some of the equipment is very simple to change. Other machines need more major modifications. Generally speaking, we are working as fast we can."

Slot machine technicians have been working to install new "validators" to accept the new bills. "Most of our machines can now accept the new redesigned bills," said a slot tech at Players Riverboat Casino at Metropolis, Ill.

Starting in 1996 with the redesign of the $100 note, the government has taken steps to stay ahead of advances in technology using new and modified security features to deter counterfeiting.

The Secret Services reports that seizures of counterfeit bills have risen since the first redesigned notes were issued, allowing less counterfeit currency to enter global circulation.

The new bills include watermarks, embedded security thread, color-shifting ink, hard-to-replicate fine line printing and larger, off-center pictures of Alexander Hamilton ($10) and former president Abraham Lincoln ($5).

These enhancements make U.S. currency easier to recognize as genuine and more secure against advancing technologies in counterfeiting.

The redesigned notes incorporate both familiar and new features, while remaining recognizably American. Lincoln's and Hamilton's pictures are larger and bolder.

The Treasury Department unveiled redesigned $10 and $5 notes in mid-November, but distribution didn't start until late May, replacing existing notes as they are returned to Federal Reserve banks through the banking system.

There will be no recall or devaluation of currency, and, old or new, all currency will be honored at full face value.

U.S. currency has seen a number of important changes throughout the years, each addressing specific security issues.

The first series of U.S. bank notes were issued in 1861, featuring a distinctive cotton-linen paper, green ink and fine-line design. Each denomination was standardized with easily recognizable portraits and illustrations in 1928. In 1990, currency was further enhanced with two important new security features -- an embedded security thread that ran vertically through the notes and microprinting around the portrait border -- but the overall appearance of the notes remain largely unchanged.

The latest changes have been noticeable, and, in the future, as new technology becomes available, the next generation of securing enhancements will be incorporated into the currency.

The new century is bringing another big change to the nation's money -- new dollar coins.

The new coin, now in distribution, features the image of Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian woman, who with her infant son, guided Lewis and Clark to the West.

An eagle is on the reverse side.

The new coin succeeds the Susan B. Anthony dollar, minted from 1979 to 1981 and in 1999.

A renewed public interest led to the production of the new coin. The existing Susan B. Anthony dollars continue to be legal tender.

No immediate changes are in the planning for the $1 bill, which represents about half of the notes in circulation, but, eventually, the dollar note will incorporate the same machine-readable ability included in the other redesigned notes. Half of all the notes printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing each year, are $1 notes.

A LOOK AT THE NEWEST BILLS

Since 1996, the United States has been issuing currency with new security features. These new features make U.S. currency easier to recognize as genuine and more secure against advancing computer technologies that could be used for counterfeiting.

Shown here are the latest redesigns, for the $5 and $10 bills, which are being issued this summer.

The new looks -- present in the $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 bills -- represents an ongoing commitment to protect the currency, says a U.S. Department of Treasury spokesman.

Looking at the newest bills:

1. Watermark: A watermark of Lincoln ($5) and Hamilton ($10) is located in the blank space to the right of the portrait and is visible from both sides when held up to a light.

2. Security Thread: A polymer thread embedded vertically in the paper to the right left of the portrait indicates the $5 note, and to the right of the portrait of the $10 denomination. The words, "USA FIVE" and a flag appear on the thread, which glows blue under ultraviolet light.

3. Fine Line Printing Patterns: The fine lines printed behind the Lincoln and Hamilton portraits, the Lincoln Memorial and Treasury Building are difficult to replicate.

4. Microprinting: The words "FIVE DOLLARS" can be found in the side border on the front of the $5 note. The word "TEN" is repeated in the numeral located in the lower left-hand corner of the $10.

5. Color-shifting ink: The green number in the lower right corner on the front of the $10 bill appears black when viewed on an angle. There is no color-shifting ink on the $5 bill.

6. Low-Vision Features: The large numbers "5" and/or "10" in the lower right corner of the back of the notes are easy to read.