New US $5 bill coming out March 13, 2008

The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing is releasing a new five dollar bill tomorrow (March 13). Here’s what it looks like.

The first $5 bill will be spent at the gift shop of President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home in Washington, D.C.on March 13th, 2008. One can only guess what it will be used to purchase. The new bills will then be shipped out to customer banks around the US to enter circulation.

The web site has tons of information about the changes to the bill and the reasons for making them. There’s an interactive $5 bill, a hefty 75MB movie (transcript) describing the changes, two screensavers, and two wallpapers.

If that didn’t satiate your appetite you can find even more videos and PDFs on their multimedia site.