New $5 Bill Debuts Today

Honest Abe may've been a bit pasty and gaunt, but the public can now see him in a more vivid hue: The redesigned $5 bill, complete with splashes of purple designed to thwart pesky counterfeiters, is being released today. Lincoln keeps his place on the front, and his memorial on the back—and the first new fiver will be spent at Lincoln's Cottage in Washington, DC.

The purple lies in the center of the note, fading to gray at the edges, the AP reports. The replacement bill also has a larger, purple “5” in one corner; two watermarks as well as some high-tech alterations make it harder to copy. The changes are similar to those already made to the $10, $20, and $50 bills; next up for a makeover is the $100 bill. (More $5 bill stories.)