Editing Federal Reserve Note (section)

==Criticisms==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2008}}

===Security===
Despite the relatively late addition of color and other anti-[[counterfeiting]] features to U.S. currency, critics hold that it is still a straightforward matter to counterfeit these bills.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/04/how-the-dollar-stays-dominant|title=Counterfeit|date=August 28, 2017|publisher=NewYorker.com|access-date=June 6, 2018}}</ref> They point out that the ability to reproduce color images is well within the capabilities of modern color [[Computer printer|printers]], most of which are affordable to many consumers. These critics suggest that the Federal Reserve should incorporate [[Holography|holographic]] features, as are used in most other major currencies, such as the [[pound sterling]], [[Canadian dollar]] and [[euro banknotes]], which are more difficult and expensive to forge. Another robust technology, the [[polymer banknote]], was developed for the [[Australian dollar]] and adopted for the [[New Zealand dollar]], [[Romanian leu]], [[Papua New Guinea kina]], [[Canadian dollar]], and other circulating, as well as commemorative, banknotes of a number of other countries. They are said to be more secure, cleaner, and more durable than paper notes, but U.S. banknotes are already designed to be more durable than traditional cotton-based banknotes, seeing as they are 25% linen. One major issue with implementing these or any new counterfeiting countermeasures, however, is that (other than under [[Executive Order 6102]] as well as the demonetization of [[Trade dollar (United States coin)|Trade Dollars]] in 1876<ref>{{Citation |last=United States. Department of the Treasury |title=Information Respecting United States Bonds, Paper Currency and Coin, Production of Precious Metals, Etc.: Revised July 1, 1915 |date=July 1, 1915 |url=https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/information-respecting-united-states-bonds-paper-currency-coin-production-precious-metals-etc-828?start_page=33 |page=33 |access-date=August 23, 2023 |quote="Section 2 of the joint resolution of July 22; 1876, recited that the trade dollar should not thereafter be legal tender, and that the Secretary of the Treasury should be authorized to limit the coinage of the same to an amount sufficient to meet the export demand for it."}}</ref>) the United States has never demonetized or required a mandatory exchange of any existing currency.{{Dubious|date=August 2023|reason=The claim is that the "United States has never demonetized...any existing currency," yet now has been contradicted by two historical periods of which the United States has demonetized existing currency;}} Consequently, would-be counterfeiters can easily circumvent any new security features simply by counterfeiting older designs, although once a new design is launched, the older designs are usually withdrawn from circulation as they cycle through the Federal Reserve Banks.

U.S. currency does, however, bear several anti-counterfeiting features. Two of the most critical anti-counterfeiting features of U.S. currency are the paper and the ink. The ink and paper combine to create a distinct texture, particularly as the currency is circulated. The paper and the ink alone have no effect on the value of the dollar until post print. These characteristics can be hard to duplicate without the proper equipment and materials. Furthermore, recent redesigns of the $5, $10, $20, and $50 notes have added [[EURion constellation]] patterns which allows scanning software to recognize banknotes and refuse to scan them.

The differing sizes of other nations' banknotes is a security feature that eliminates one form of counterfeiting to which U.S. currency is prone: Counterfeiters can simply bleach the ink off a low-denomination note, such as a $1 or $5 bill, and reprint it as a higher-value note, such as a $100 bill. To counter this, the U.S. government has included in all $5 and higher denominated notes since the 1990 series a [[security thread]], which is a vertical laminate strip imprinted with denomination information. Under ultraviolet light, the security thread fluoresces a different color for each denomination ($5 note: blue; $10 note: orange; $20 note: green; $50 note: yellow; $100 note: pink).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Security Features |url=http://www.moneyfactory.gov/anticounterfeiting/securityfeatures.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027033925/http://moneyfactory.gov/anticounterfeiting/securityfeatures.html |archive-date=October 27, 2014 |publisher=The United States Treasury Bureau of Engraving and Printing |access-date=October 27, 2017}}</ref> Additionally the newly designed $100 launched in 2013 has a 3D security ribbon which has proven to be highly resistant to counterfeiting, yet easily understood by the public without special tools or lights.

According to the [[central bank]]s, the number of counterfeited banknotes seized annually is about 10 in one million real bank notes for the [[Banknotes of the Swiss franc|Swiss franc]], 50 in one million for the [[Euro banknotes|Euro]], 100 in one million for United States dollar and 300 in one million for [[Banknotes of the pound sterling|pound sterling]] (old style).<ref>Michel Beuret, [http://www3.unil.ch/wpmu/allezsavoir/les-mysteres-de-la-fausse-monnaie "Les mystères de la fausse monnaie"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013074050/http://www3.unil.ch/wpmu/allezsavoir/les-mysteres-de-la-fausse-monnaie |date=October 13, 2013 }} ''[[Allez savoir !]]'', no. 50, May 2011 {{in lang|fr}}.</ref>

===Differentiation===
Critics, such as the [[American Council of the Blind]], note that U.S. bills are relatively hard to tell apart: they use very similar designs, they are printed in the same colors (until the 2003 banknotes, in which a faint secondary color was added), and they are all the same size. The American Council of the Blind has argued<ref name="amconbli" /> that American paper currency design should use increasing sizes according to value or raised or indented features to make the currency more usable by the [[blindness|vision-impaired]], since the denominations cannot currently be distinguished from one another non-visually. Use of [[Braille]] codes on currency is not considered a desirable solution because these markings would only be useful to people who know how to read Braille, and one Braille symbol can become confused with another if even one bump is rubbed off. Though some blind individuals say that they have no problems keeping track of their currency because they [[blind bill folding|fold their bills in different ways]] or keep them in different places in their [[wallet]]s, they nevertheless must rely on sighted people or [[currency-counting machine]]s to determine the value of each bill before filing it away using the system of their choice. This means that no matter how organized they are, blind people still have to trust sighted people or machines each time they receive U.S. banknotes.

By contrast, other major currencies, such as the [[pound sterling]] and [[euro]], feature notes of differing sizes: the size of the note increases with the denomination and different denominations are printed in different, contrasting colors. This is useful not only for the vision-impaired; they nearly eliminate the risk that, for example, someone might fail to notice a high-value note among low-value ones.

Multiple currency sizes were considered for U.S. currency, but makers of [[vending machine|vending]] and [[change machine]]s successfully argued that implementing such a wide range of sizes would greatly increase the cost and complexity of such machines. Similar arguments were unsuccessfully made in Europe prior to the introduction of multiple note sizes.

Alongside the contrasting colors and increasing sizes, many other countries' currencies contain tactile features missing from U.S. banknotes to assist the blind. For example, Canadian banknotes have a series of [[Canadian currency tactile feature|raised dots]] (not Braille) in the upper right corner to indicate denomination. [[Mexican peso]] banknotes also have raised patterns of dashed lines. The [[Indian rupee]] has raised patterns of different shapes printed for various denominations on the left of the watermark window (20: vertical rectangle; 50: square; 100: triangle; 500: circle; 1,000: diamond).

====Lawsuit over U.S. banknote design====
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Ruling on a lawsuit filed in 2002 (''[[American Council of the Blind]] v. Paulson''), on November 28, 2006, U.S. District Judge [[James Robertson (judge)|James Robertson]] ruled that the American bills gave an undue burden to the blind and denied them "meaningful access" to the U.S. currency system. In his ruling, Robertson noted that the United States was the only nation out of 180 issuing paper currency that printed bills that were identical in size and color in all their denominations and that the successful use of such features as varying sizes, raised lettering and tiny perforations used by other nations is evidence that the ordered changes are feasible.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=American Council of the Blind v. Paulson|vol=463|reporter=F. Supp. 2d|opinion=51|court=D. D.C.|date=2008|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10021338527335013059}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-12-12-currency-redesign_x.htm|title=Government appeals currency redesign |agency=Associated Press |work=[[USA Today]]|date=December 13, 2006|access-date=March 26, 2010}}</ref> The [[plaintiff]]'s attorney was quoted as saying "It's just frankly unfair that blind people should have to rely on the good faith of people they have never met in knowing whether they've been given the correct change."<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/29/AR2006112900376.html|title=Judge: Make Money Recognizable to Blind|date=November 29, 2006 |newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|access-date=February 3, 2017}}</ref>  Government attorneys estimated that the cost of such a change ranges from $75&nbsp;million in equipment upgrades and $9&nbsp;million annual expenses for punching holes in bills to $178&nbsp;million in one-time charges and $50&nbsp;million annual expenses for printing bills of varying sizes.<ref name=":0" />

Robertson accepted the plaintiff's argument that current practice violates Section 504 of the [[1973 Rehabilitation Act|Rehabilitation Act]].<ref>{{cite web|title=AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND, et al. v. Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury, Civil Action No. 02-0864 (JR)|publisher=[[United States District Court for the District of Columbia]]|date=2002|url=http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/opinions/2006/2002-CV-0864~12:3:41~12-1-2006-a.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216033211/http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/opinions/2006/2002-CV-0864~12:3:41~12-1-2006-a.pdf |archive-date=February 16, 2007 |access-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref> The judge ordered the [[United States Department of the Treasury]] to begin working on a redesign within 30 days,<ref name="amconbli">{{cite news | url=https://money.cnn.com/2006/11/28/markets/treasury_ruling/index.htm | title=Judge rules paper money unfair to blind | work=[[CNN]] | date=November 29, 2006}}</ref><ref name="acb2008">{{cite press release |url=http://www.acb.org/press-releases/pr-october-3-currency-press-release.html|title=Court Says Next Gen Currency Must Be Accessible to the Blind|publisher=[[American Council of the Blind]]|date=October 6, 2008 |editor=Bridges, Eric|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 22, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022184958/http://www.acb.org/press-releases/pr-october-3-currency-press-release.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acb.org/press-releases/pr-currency3.html|title=Court Says the Blind Will Have Meaningful Access to Currency, Tells Government 'No Unnecessary Delays'|publisher=[[American Council of the Blind]]|access-date=November 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119211743/http://www.acb.org/press-releases/pr-currency3.html|archive-date=November 19, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acb.org/press-releases/pr-08conv-currency.html|title=Federal Court Tells U.S. Treasury Department That It Must Design and Issue Accessible Paper Currency|publisher=[[American Council of the Blind]]|access-date=November 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119212342/http://www.acb.org/press-releases/pr-08conv-currency.html|archive-date=November 19, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>
but the Treasury appealed the decision.

On May 20, 2008, in a 2-to-1 decision, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit]] upheld the earlier ruling, pointing out that the cost estimates were inflated and that the burdens on blind and visually impaired currency users had not been adequately addressed.<ref>{{cite court|litigants=American Council of the Blind v. Paulson|vol=525|reporter=F. 3d|opinion=1256|court=D.C. Cir.2008|date=|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8095084321449012235}}</ref>

On October 3, 2008, on remand from the D.C. Circuit, D.C. District Court Judge Robertson granted the injunction.<ref>{{cite court|litigants=American Council of the Blind v. Paulson|vol=581|reporter=F. Supp. 2d|opinion=1|court=D. D.C.|date=2008|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10021338527335013059}}</ref>

As a result of the court's injunction, the [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]] is planning to implement a raised tactile feature in the next redesign of each note, except the $1 bill (which is not allowed to be redesigned under a 2015 law{{why|date=July 2024}}<ref>{{USStatute|114|113|129|2431|2015|12|18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Congressional Research Service Report RS21907 |url=http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/contrib/wikileaks-crs/wikileaks-crs-reports/RS21907.pdf |page=3 footnote |work=WikiLeaks Document Release |via=[[MIT]] |date=August 11, 2004 |access-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/tre.html|title=Administrative Provisions : Department of the Treasury|access-date=June 28, 2017}}</ref>), though the version of the $100 bill already is in progress.  It also plans larger, higher-contrast numerals, more color differences, and distribution of currency readers to assist the visually impaired during the transition period. The Bureau received a comprehensive study on accessibility options in July 2009,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.moneyfactory.gov/images/ARINC_Final_Report_7-26-09.pdf|title=Final Report: Study to Address Options for Enabling the Blind and Visually Impaired Community to Denominate U.S. Currency, July 2009}}</ref> and solicited public comments from May to August 2010.<ref>{{Federal Register|75|28331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=TREAS-DO-2010-0003 |website=Regulations.gov |id=TREAS-DO-2010-0003 |title=Meaningful Access to United States Currency for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons}}</ref>

The 2013 redesign of the $100 bill did not include distinguishing features for the blind. As of October 2022, the plan was to incorporate accessibility features into distributions of a new [[United States ten-dollar bill|$10 bill]] in 2026, [[United States fifty-dollar bill|$50 bill]] in 2028, [[United States twenty-dollar bill|$20 bill]] in 2030 followed later by a new [[United States five-dollar bill|$5]] then [[United States one-hundred-dollar bill|$100 notes]] later in the 2030s.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.coinworld.com/news/paper-money/printing-of-new-enhanced-10-dollar-note-expected-in-2026 | title=Printing of new enhanced $10 note expected in 2026 }}</ref>