Accounting and Finance Foundations

(Chris Devlin) #1

Unit 3


Accounting and Finance Foundations Unit 3: The Role of Money 166

The Role of Money


Chapter 6


Student Guide


Chapter 6


Hold the bill up to the light. On both sides of the bill, you should see a security thread, running from top to
bottom, woven into the paper. “TWENTY USA” and an American flag are printed along this thread. When
you hold the bill up to the light, you should also see a faint image of Andrew Jackson, the U.S. president
featured on the bill, to the far right of the larger image of him. This faint image, called a watermark, is visible
from both sides of the bill. Finally, the lower right corner of the front of the bill shows the denomination in
color-shifting ink. None of these features can be easily copied.

Other features of the bills like serial numbers and Federal Reserve indicators are used to make it easier
to track where the money goes.

Security Thread
Hold the bill up to the light and look for the security thread, or
plastic strip, that is embedded in the paper and runs vertically up
one side of the note. If you look closely, the words “USA TWENTY”
and a small flag are visible along the thread from both sides of the
note. This thread glows green when held under ultraviolet light.

Color-Shifting Ink
Look at the number “20” in the
lower right corner on the face of
the note. When you tilt the note
up and down the color-shifting
ink changes color from copper
to green.

Watermark
Hold the bill up to the light and look for
the watermark, or faint image, similar to
the large portrait of President Andrew
Jackson. The watermark is part of the
paper itself, and it can be seen from
both sides of the note.
Photos courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank

Why Does Money Look The Way It Does? (cont’d)

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