$100 bill redesign: By the numbers

The elaborately redesigned $100 bill won't hit the streets until February 2011, but it's already got people talking, both here and abroad. As the most-widely circulated bill in the world, the Benjamin is also the most counterfeited — thus the colorful and technically complex new bells and whistles. Here are some numerical facts and figures about the C-note:

11.8

The cost, in cents, to make each new $100 bill, up from 8 cents currently

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650,000

Number of light-shifting "micro lenses" in the new 3-D security thread on each bill

$46 million

Estimated value of the government's contract with Crane & Co., the Mass. company that makes the threads

89

Life span, in months, of the typical $100 bill

1996

The year of the $100 bill's last redesign

1862

The year of the first $100 bill issued by the U.S. government

1914

The year Benjamin Franklin first appeared on the $100 bill

1:10,000

Ratio of counterfeit to legitimate U.S. currency notes in circulation, according a 2006 U.S. Treasury report

1:3

Ratio of counterfeit to legitimate U.S. currency notes in circulation during the Civil War

$45 million

The amount of counterfeit $100 bills, or "supernotes," made by North Korea, according to a 2009 Congressional Research Service report

$200,000

The amount of counterfeit cash passed in New York City each week, according to one expert

6.5 billion

Number of $100 bills in circulation

66

Estimated percentage of C-notes circulating outside U.S. borders

25

Number of languages the Treasury is using to spread information about the new bills

$31.4 billion

Increase in the volume of $100 bills in circulation in 2009

4:10

The time on Independence Hall's clock on the back of the $100 bill

Sources: CNN, New York Times (2), Helium, Wall St. Journal (2), U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, CBS MoneyWatch, NewMoney.gov, Treasury Department, AP