NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing has delayed the unveiling of a new $20 bill for six to eight weeks, a bureau spokeswoman said Monday.

The unveiling of the new $20 bill, the first new bill to be introduced as part of the Treasury Department's "NexGen" redesign of $20, $50 and $100 bills, was originally scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

"Shortly after the war broke out, a decision was made to postpone [the unveiling]," said Bureau of Engraving spokeswoman Claudia Dickens, who could offer no other details about the decision.

Dickens said a new date for the unveiling had not yet been set. The new currency -- which, among other changes, will include some color other than green, in an effort to foil counterfeiters -- is expected to begin circulating in the fall of 2003, the bureau has said.