A newer version of the U.S. $20 bill began circulating today to help prevent counterfeits. Unlike changes in the past, this time the U.S. Treasury decided to add some new color to the $20 bill. As the image on the right shows, the new twenty eliminates the frame around Andrew Jackson and features a blue watermark image of an eagle and a faint peach color to the middle of the bill. The Government will spend $33 million to alert businesses on the $19 billion worth of new $20 bills.

Though almost one billion bills were printed, it may be a week before you get your hands on one of the new bills. Older bills will gradually be withdrawn from circulation as they wear out.

Spending $30 million on marketing the new bill seems a bit much considering the amount of press it is already getting, but the advertising industry could use the money.

According to officials, the $20 bill is the most counterfeited bill. The average life span of a $20 bill is about two years, so it won't take long for it to be commonplace. New designs for the $50 bill will come out in 2004 and new designs for the $100 will come out in 2005. As with other currencies in other countries, the different denominations will use different colors to make it easy to determine which bill you are using. Changing the $5 and $10 bills is a possiblity, but the $1 and $2 will not change anytime soon.