The Federal Reserve will begin to distribute the long-awaited new $100 bills to banks Tuesday despite the ongoing government shutdown. Since the central bank is not funded via Congressional appropriations, there will not be any delays distributing the new bills. Tuesday's launch marks the bill's first redesign since 1996, when Benjamin Franklin's head got bigger and a watermark was added. The resdeign is meant to help thwart counterfeiters with the addition of a 3-D blue security ribbon, and ink that changes color from copper to green, and gold "100's" on the front and back.
