Printing glitch mars 1 billion $100 bills

WASHINGTON - The government said it would need to check more than 1 billion new $100 bills because of production problems that have left unwanted creases in many of the notes.

Officials of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing said that they were examining 1.1 billion of the new bills to determine how much of the currency would have to be destroyed.

Darlene Anderson, a spokeswoman for the bureau, said officials believe a large proportion of the new bills will pass inspection and be placed into circulation. The currency is being held in vaults at the bureau's two printing facilities, one in Washington and the other in Fort Worth, Texas.

The currency had originally been scheduled to go into circulation on Feb. 10. Anderson said a new date would not be set until the production problems are resolved.

The government had announced on Oct. 1 that the currency was being delayed but it had not given an estimate of how many bills might have been affected by the production problems.

The bills have been redesigned with sophisticated elements aimed at thwarting counterfeiters. Those include a disappearing Liberty Bell in an inkwell and a bright blue security ribbon that is composed of thousands of tiny lenses.- AP