New $50 bills are just starting to appear in DeKalb, despite being put into circulation last Tuesday.

The bill’s design includes several new aesthetic changes, including an image of the American flag, colored red and blue. It is the first time in modern American history that U.S. currency has used colors other than green and black. The oval around former president Ulysses S. Grant has also been taken away, said Don Wagner, public information specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

The design is more than just something new to look at.

“I actually just saw one for the first time [Friday]. It’s really beautiful. The way they have the American flag on the bill just makes you feel good,” said Mary Keys, director of marketing at Resource Bank in DeKalb.

Wagner said the bill’s new design is meant to keep counterfeiting to a minimum.

“Technology is getting so good now with printing and computers. Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Wagner said.

About one out of every 25,000 $50 bills are counterfeit, he said.

Of every 10,000 bills in circulation, Wagner said, on average, one and a half to three bills are counterfeit. The number could get larger if new bill designs were not created, he said.

“The most often counterfeited bill is the $20 bill. For counterfeiters, anything [$20 or higher] is worth the risk of counterfeiting, which is punishable [by] up to 14 years in prison,” Wagner said.

Several DeKalb banks had yet to receive the new bills as of last week, but for those who have, preparations to warn customers have been made.

Resource Bank has been distributing information to their customers to let them know about the change.

“We’ve been giving out fliers and putting up posters to let them know about it so they are aware,” Keys said.

The old currency is sent back to the Federal Reserve Bank, where it is shredded and replaced with new $50 bills.

“Right now the life expectancy of a $50 bill is 10 to 12 years. We shred [old bills] up and get ones with the new design to replace them,” Wagner said.

At the Chicago branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, $23 million are shredded everyday, Wagner said. There are 12 Federal Reserve Banks across the country.

Late next year, a new $100 bill design will be produced, Wagner said.