New $100 Bills Ordered Destroyed by Federal Reserve; Throwing Away Billions of Dollars for Printing Error

New $100 bills, billions of dollars’ worth, were ordered destroyed by the Federal Reserve after a printing problem was found at the money factory in Washington, D.C. Yes, they are throwing away money in Washington.

The new $100 bills were rendered unusable by the printing error, forcing the Federal Reserve to dispose of about $3 billion worth of the new $100 bills.

The new $100 bills were supposed to have been debuted two years ago. The debut of the new $100 bills were delayed when a printing problem left a blank spot on some of the notes.

The problem with the new $100 bills at the Washington, D.C., plant had to do with too much ink being applied to the paper. The problem is called "mashing." The lines of the intricate design on the new $100 bills weren’t as exact as they had been ordered.

In a memo to employees in July, the director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Larry Felix said said that the Federal Reserve destroyed $3 billion worth of "clearly unacceptable" $100 bills. The Federal Reserve plans to examine another $30 billion for the problem. Larry Felix wrote “There are dire consequences involved here because BEP sells Federal Reserve notes to the Board to finance our entire operation. If the BEP does not meet the order, the BEP does not get paid.”

Production of the new $100 bills at the Washington, D.C. plant was shut down by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing until further notice. Larry Felix ordered a money factory in Fort Worth, Texas, to increase production to meet a deadline of Oct. 8, the date the new $100 bills are supposed to go into circulation.

The new $100 bills were unveiled in 2010. They have a number of new features like a 3D security ribbon in the middle, a number 100 that changes color, a portrait watermark, a Liberty Bell, a security thread and, in raised letters on Ben Franklin’s collar, the words "The United States of America."