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Funny money

wrahn Contributor
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There’s something funny with the newest batch of American money – and it may pose problems for the Massachusetts-based company that provides the paper for all U.S. currency.

Dalton-based Crane & Co. says it’s not responsible for a printing gaffe that has affected $1.1 billion worth of new hundred-dollar bills and could cost taxpayers up to $120 million.

“Crane manufactures the paper to the government’s specs, but I don’t know if it’s a problem with the paper,” said Peter Hopkins, a spokesman for Crane & Co., which has produced the paper for dollar bills since 1879. “I haven’t seen any finger-pointing yet.”

The new bills, bearing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s signature, have been printed and remain uncirculated in vaults in Texas and Washington, D.C. Many may be unusable, because the paper folded over during production, creating a blank, uninked portion on the bill face.

Hopkins said the paper for the new $100 bill – which features a 3-D security strip and a color-shifting image of a bell designed to foil counterfeiters – is an extremely complex product, and Crane has been working with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to resolve the issue.

Full story: Uncle Sam’s bad bills – BostonHerald.com