You might have to go to a bank to check if the bill is authentic. Accordingly, the best way to check its authenticity is to compare it to another $100. No special security features were used on $100 bills printed before 1990. Nevertheless, you can now buy a counterfeit detection pen that has a UV light built into the cap and costs under $10.However, fraudsters have gotten wise and no longer use the chemicals, so the pen isn’t foolproof. It checks for common chemicals used in counterfeits. Use a counterfeit money detection pen.If you see blurry printing or text, then you are probably dealing with a counterfeit. Real bills should have clear, sharp lines, which are very hard for counterfeiters to reproduce. The image should be very faint but visible from either side. Bills printed after 1996 have a watermark portrait of Benjamin Franklin in the blank space at the right-hand side. The numeral 100 should change from green to black. Tilt the note in the light and look in the lower right-hand corner. $100 bills issued between 1996-2013 employ color-shifting ink. You should also see “The United States of America” in the left lapel of Franklin’s coat. For bills issued between 1996-2013, “USA100” should appear in the numeral 100 on the lower left-hand corner.For example, in $100 bills issued between 1990-1996, the words “The United States of America” should appear on the outer edge of the portrait oval.Use a magnifying glass to check for microprinting, which will appear in different spots depending on the year the bill was issued. Older bills used microprinting as a security feature. If you hold the bill up to UV light, then the thread glows pink. The words “USA” and “100” should alternate on the thread. A $100 bill printed after 1990 should have a security thread on the left-hand side that is only visible when you hold the bill up to the light. Nevertheless, counterfeiters struggle to reproduce the raised printing, so feeling the bill is a good first step.The most successful counterfeiters will bleach real money and then print over it. Using touch is not foolproof, however.If you handle currency as part of your job, you should quickly develop familiarity with the feel of authentic money. Also, bills should have slightly raised ink, which is a feature of the printing process. The bills are printed on cotton and linen, not paper. Nevertheless, you might have one or more stored at home that you want to check. Accordingly, most of the older bills should be out of circulation by now. The average $100 bill stay in circulation for seven years.Nevertheless, older bills are still legal tender, so if you get one you shouldn’t automatically assume it is fake. Older bills are being phased out of circulation to prevent counterfeiters from fooling people. The newest $100 bills are “Series 2009” bills, and they have many different security features. Steps Checking Older Bills (Pre-Series 2009)

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