Given that American currency is the most counterfeited in the world, the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing is in a constant race to keep ahead of forgery operations. The newest addition to the American wallet: the Purple Five.

It makes Lincoln look like he’s been holding his breath for a long time.

An amazing note: To provide a sample graphic for this post, I took a screenshot of (Condé Nast’s) Porfolio image of the new five. When I tried to open the screenshot in Photoshop CS, it recognized features of the image as currency (even though this software is 4 years old and this style of bill is brand new) and gave me this message:

“This application does not support the unauthorized processing of banknote images. For more information, select the information button below for Internet-based information on restrictions for copying and distributing banknote images or go to www.rulesforuse.org.”

Wow. Well done.

Tags: art, geekery, infinite coolness, kicking ass!, technology
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