The Federal Reserve is throwing away as much as $3 billion of the new $100 after a printer error rendered them unusable, UPI reported on Thursday. The new $100 bills were supposed to debut two years ago, but have been delayed due to continuing problems with printing.
The Washington D.C. plant had a problem called "mashing," which means too much ink had been applied to the paper, and the bills' design have not exact enough.
The bills have since been returned, and are deemed as "unacceptable," according to the director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) Larry Felix.
The Federal Reserve is still planning to examine an additional $30 billion worth of $100 bills due to the problem, Felix wrote. "There are dire consequences involved here because BEP sells Federal Reserve notes to the Board to finance our entire operation," Felix wrote. "If the BEP does not meet the order, the BEP does not get paid."
The new bill, which was first unveiled in 2010, includes a 3D security ribbon down the center with a Liberty Bell embroidered in, and a number 100 that change color, a portrait watermark, an embedded security thread. The "The United States of America" are also printed in tiny letters on Ben Franklin's collar.
