McClatchy Newspapers has a report on the counterfeit $100 “Supernote” and the problems that it is causing the United States government.

Aspect of the bill that causes concern:

•The paper appears to be made from the same cotton and linen mix that distinguishes U.S. currency from others. It includes the watermarks visible from the other side of the bill, colored microfibers woven into the substrate of the banknote and an embedded strip, barely visible, that reads USA 100 and glows red under ultraviolet light.

•The bills include tiny microprint that appears as a line to the naked eye, but under magnification is actually lettering around the coat of Benjamin Franklin or hidden in the number 100 that reads either USA 100 or The United States of America.

•The same optically variable ink, or OVI, is used on the number 100 on the bottom right side of the bill. Exclusively made for, and sold to, the United States, this OVI ink gives the appearance of changing color when a banknote is viewed from different angles.

The United States has seized about $50 Million of “Supernotes”.

Worldwide, an estimated $61 million in counterfeit dollars was passed at the end of 2005.