New $5 bills enter circulation

The incredible shrinking dollar

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Americans will soon see a redesigned $5 bill that the U.S. Treasury began circulating Thursday. The first transaction was at a gift shop near President Lincoln's summer cottage overlooking Washington.

The recently renovated cottage was selected as the backdrop for the unveiling of the new money because Lincoln's image remains on the front of the bill.

Security features added to the paper help people spot bogus bills. "Just hold the bill up to light," said Michael Lambert, an assistant director at the Federal Reserve.

He held the bill up in the morning sun outside Lincoln's cottage and pointed to "the large numeral 5 in the blank space of the bill to the right of the portrait of Abraham Lincoln."

The sunlight also revealed "the large column of three smaller fives to the left of the portrait," Lambert said.

The bill continues to use the larger, off-center portrait featured on all denominations of U.S. currency since 1996. Perhaps the quickest way to spot the new bill is the large, purple numeral "5" on the back of the note's lower right corner.

Anti-counterfeiting measures are the main reason the United States has been making changes in currency, starting in 1996 with the $100 bill, followed by a new $20 bill in 2003. The $50 bill got an overhaul in 2004, and the $10 was redesigned in 2006.