The Big Keasey

mood: happy

music: "Begin The Begin" by R.E.M.

The new bill — featuring shades of orange, yellow and red — joined colorized versions of the $20 bill and the $50 bill as the Bureau of Engraving and Printing attempts to stay ahead of counterfeiters and ever-more sophisticated copying machines.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday began shipping the first of 800 million of the new $10 bills to commercial banks. In the next few days, those bills will start showing up in cash registers around the country.

Officials of the U.S. Treasury, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Federal Reserve and the Secret Service participated in a spending ceremony at the National Archives.

That location was selected because the new bill, which is still largely green, will feature in red letters the phrase “We the People” from the Constitution, which is housed at the Archives.

“Staying ahead of would-be counterfeiters is a top priority of the U.S. government and in order to do that our currency will need to be redesigned every seven to 10 years,” said U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral.