Archives
 By  Staff Reports Published 
2:59 pm Monday, September 24, 2007

Do you plan to attend a college football game this season?

By Staff
Jason Cannon, Franklin County Times
Local shoppers will soon find something a little different while fumbling through their wallets.
Honest Abe, the man prominently featured on the five-dollar bill, is getting a facelift.
Splashes of purple and gray highlight the redesigned five, which will be released to local banks this spring.
The Treasury Department showcased its new bill Thursday in an Internet news conference.
The changes are similar to those already made, starting in 2003, to the $10, $20 and $50 bills.
In those redesigns, pastel colors were added as part of an effort to stay ahead of counterfeiters and their ever-more-sophisticated copying machines.
Alan Rhudy, branch manager of Russellville's Community Spirit Bank, said technological advancements in personal computers and software have goaded the need for the evolution of the nation's currency.
"These days, with laser printers and some of this design software, it doesn't take very long before someone's able to copy the look and design of currency," he said.
But to combat that, the Treasury Department has made some technological advancements of their own.
"These new bills are loaded with security features," Rhudy said. "Watermarks, security chips, special paper, and that's just the stuff we know about."
In the new bill, the government is changing the $5 watermark from one of Lincoln to two separate watermarks featuring the number 5.
The security thread embedded in the $5 bill also has been moved to a different location.
The Treasury will begin printing the new notes next week at its facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The goal is to have 1.5 billion $5 bills ready to be put into circulation, at a date still to be determined.
The new $5 design also incorporates a number of other state-of-the-art security features.
Perhaps the most obvious change is a new large-size 5 printed in the lower right-hand corner of the backside of the bill in bright purple ink.
That feature was added to help the visually impaired.
Lincoln remains on the front of the bill and the Lincoln Memorial is still on the back, but both images have been enhanced and the oval borders around them have been removed.
In place of a border around Lincoln's portrait, the new bill will feature an arc of purple stars.
Small yellow "05" numerals will be printed on both the front and the back.
The center of the bill features light purple, which blends into gray near the edges.
And while the bill has a drastically new look, Rhudy said customers rarely notice.
"It doesn't really cause a lot of confusion as far as customers are concerned, but it does take a few days before some folks realize that this is the new look of the bill. Some people think it's something rare until they start to pop up all over the place," he said.
Kevin Stone, branch manager and loan officer of Russellville's Valley State Bank, agreed.
"The first few days, people are kind of hesitant to take it," he said, "but after about a week, they're all over the place."

Also on Franklin County Times
Mayor updates status of downtown buildings
Main, News, Phil Campbell, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
December 3, 2025
PHIL CAMPBELL — Mayor Greg Williams told councilmembers during their Nov. 18 meeting efforts are still ongoing to get a group of downtown buildings co...
HB 65 would benefit seniors
Main, News, Russellville
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
December 3, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — Seniors in Franklin County could see longterm relief on rising property taxes under a proposed amendment to the Alabama Constitution th...
55-year tradition connects family
Main, News
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
December 3, 2025
SPRUCE PINE — Regina Jackson’s home has been the gathering place for her family for more than five decades. It’s where they’ve shared songs, games, an...
Dual enrollment students explore county’s history
Main, News, Russellville, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
December 3, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — Students from Belgreen and Vina stepped out of their online history class and into Franklin County’s past this fall as part of a dual e...
Close the crypto loophole before it hurts rural areas
Columnists, Opinion
December 3, 2025
As the state representative for a largely rural district in Alabama, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside farmers, small business owners, and f...
Making room for meaningful moments
Columnists, Opinion
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
December 3, 2025
December arrives quickly, even when we think we are prepared for it. Lights go up, schedules fill, and daylight disappears earlier each afternoon. It ...
8 place in 2 divisions
Franklin County, Sports
December 3, 2025
Franklin County Anglers teams competed recently in a tournament that included both junior and senior divisions. In the Junior Division, Eli Boyd and T...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *