These New $100 Bills Are Going to Be Huge Overseas

In the midst of a government shutdown over federal spending, a new $100 bill began circulating Tuesday. At least we assume it did: The U.S. Treasury, like much of the government, couldn�t be reached for comment, and no one is making change with a crisp, new hundred this morning.

The Series 2009 $100 note is more expensive to print than the last version�12.6� per bill vs. 7.8� for the older style�but it�s designed to be harder to counterfeit and easier to authenticate. The hundred note still features Ben Franklin on the front and Independence Hall on the back, along with more colorful illustrations and hidden text and pictograms that reveal themselves only under certain conditions.

If now feels like a bizarre time to begin printing new, more expensive money, rest assured that the $100 bill plays an essential role in the U.S. economy. Although most Americans are unlikely to use the new note regularly, if at all, the hundred is by far the largest store of value for all circulating U.S. currency.
At the end of 2012, there were about $10 billion in singles in circulation, according to the Federal Reserve. There were $863 billion in hundreds making the rounds�more than three-quarters of the value of all U.S. notes. Although hundreds are the most commonly counterfeited bill, they have grown significantly more important to the economy over the last 20 years.
Bill Adams, chief economist at PNC Financial (PNC), estimates that from 1992 to 2012, the share of the U.S. gross domestic product accounted for by hundred-dollar bills doubled. Today, he says, hundreds represent close to 6 percent of gross domestic product.

Most of that currency is probably not in the United States. In 2010, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke noted that up to two-thirds of all hundred notes are circulating abroad.