Colorful Five Dollar Bill

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON -... A new $5 bill, with splashes of color surrounding Abraham Lincoln will go into circulation March 13, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Federal Reserve announced Thursday.

The new bill still will have a portrait of the 16th president on one side and the Lincoln Memorial on the other. But it also will feature purple and gray colors and other high-tech changes designed to make life more difficult for counterfeiters.

Officials said they hoped the vending machine industry will use the next three months to make the adjustments needed so that millions of machines will be able to accept the redesigned $5 bill. That denomination is used heavily in the machines.

"Any business that operates machines that accept $5 bills should contact the machines' manufacturers and ensure they get adjusted to accept the new design," said Dawn Haley, a spokesman for the bureau.