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To: gmweber who wrote (9089)	3/31/1998 9:30:00 AM
From: Bucky Katt	Respond to of 116762

First gold, then paper, now....polymer?>>>>>> Imagine a dollar bill that doesn't crumple when you feed it into a change machine or get all wrinkled if you accidentally leave it in your pocket on washing day. Those are among the benefits advocates attribute to plastic, or polymer currency undergoing extensive testing by the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Other advantages: It lasts longer, although how much longer is in dispute; it can't be counterfeited using a computer ink-jet printer and it can be recycled. Skeptics worry the public would reject plastic bills, that they would force an expensive retooling of currency-sorting and counting machines and that such a radical change could subtly undermine confidence in the U.S. dollar. The Treasury Department already is in the midst of a multiyear redesign of the nation's currency, the first in nearly six decades. It introduced new $100 notes in 1996 and new $50 bills last year and plans new $20s later this year. The new paper bills feature enlarged portraits, watermarks, a numeral in color-shifting ink and a polymer security thread. Officials aren't sure they want to take another big step. "We're pretty far down the road from making any decision about proceeding,'' said Treasury Assistant Secretary Howard Schloss. Nevertheless, the Bureau of Printing and Engraving is testing a variety of materials, including a plastic developed by the Reserve Bank of Australia and a paper-plastic sandwich produced by a Canadian company. "We and every other bank note printer in the world are taking a look,'' said Thomas Ferguson, the bureau's acting director. "We've run some print trials and we'll be running some more.'' The government won't say what its timetable is, but industry officials assume such a change wouldn't be made before 2000 or 2001. Australia issued the world's first plastic currency in 1988 - a $10 note commemorating its bicentennial. It finished converting all of its notes to the new material in 1996. "We're very comfortable and very happy with them,'' said Neil Mackrell, the reserve bank's chief representative in New York. Australia also has produced notes for Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Kuwait, Western Samoa, Singapore, Brunei, Sri Lanka and Thailand. A blue polymer 50-baht note from Thailand - worth $1.32 - is thinner than a U.S. paper note and feels slick on the back. But in spots, such as the portrait on the front, it has an engraved feel similar to a traditional banknote. It folds readily but can't be torn with the fingers. The level of printing detail is as fine or finer than on a paper note. And it features a small clear window, embossed with the numeral 50, aimed at preventing counterfeiters from using home computer printers. Secret Service officials have been particularly concerned about the growing use of computer ink-jet technology to produce fake U.S. bills. They are relatively poor in quality but some have been passed to busy or unobservant cash handlers. "A polymer note incorporating a clear Mylar window would definitely foil counterfeiting by personal computer and ink-jet printer,'' said Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., who has scheduled a hearing today to examine the growing threat. "The $64,000 question remains: What sort of public acceptance would it receive?'' Domtar Inc. of Montreal thinks it has the solution: a thin film positioned between two layers of very light cotton paper. "In terms of printing and processing, it feels and acts like paper but it has greater strength than traditional papers,'' said Nancy Butchart, marketing manager for Domtar Securities Paper. Australia, in its promotional material, says its plastic notes last four times as long as conventional currency - and thus provide big cost savings. But Lanse Crane, the chief executive of Crane & Co. Inc. of Dalton, Mass., the company that manufactures paper for U.S. bills, said Australia's figures are based on a seven-month life for a paper bill. The most-circulated U.S. bill - the $1 note - now lasts 18 months. And he argued that switching to plastic, even if it proved more durable, risked decreasing worldwide acceptance of U.S. currency. Kawika Daguio of the American Bankers Association said bankers worry any change might confuse the public. The United States, unlike other nations, never withdraws its currency from circulation. Thus cash handlers potentially could be forced to deal with three different designs for each denomination - old-style paper, new-style paper and plastic or a paper-plastic sandwich.