New $100 Bills to Be Destroyed: 30 Million Notes Suffer Ink 'Mashing' Problem (VIDEO)
Thirty million new $100 bills will be destroyed after an ink error was spotted in the huge stash of cash. The error meant that the $100 bills affected were "illegal tender" and would not be able to be put into distribution.
The error arose from a printing problem called "mashing," which occurs when an excessive amount of ink is applied to the paper.
A spokesman from the BEP, (Bureau of Engraving and Printing), told the New Yorker: "This time, recent batches of cash from the Washington, D.C., plant contained 'clearly unacceptable' bills intermixed with passable ones, according to a July memo to employees from Larry Felix, the bureau's director."
The New Yorker report also explained that the Fed will now return more than $30 million $100 bills and demand its money back.
Fed officials have reportedly announced that they will not accept any $100 notes made at the Washington, D.C., facility until further notice.
The latest error is just the latest in a series of problems in the federal reserve; another recent error meant that many bills were printed with a black spot on them, and all of those notes also had to be destroyed in that case.
Another incident that took place less than a year ago saw a large shipment of newly printed bills stolen by thieves.
A spokesperson for the BEP has said that they are "investing this issue to determine the root cause. The $100 notes returned to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had a small proportion of notes affected by mashing, which were included with many, good, quality notes. It's expected only a marginal fraction of the notes will be unacceptable."