1996 $100 Bill Error

Hi, I know it's been awhile since you posted, but I am in California and have found a 1996 100 dollar bill with Grant's watermark instead of Franklin's. I have checked and rechecked and triple checked all of the other security features... the color shifting ink is great, the security strip glows pink and is in the correct place, the micro printing on Franklin's lapel is correct. The only thing that is weird is the watermark isn't Franklin, it is Grant.

Whatever happened with your mother's bill? I can't find anything else on the Internet about this specific issue.

[edited because I said "Lincoln" not "Franklin" due to the late night posting!!]

Here are a couple of other pictures, too. The security thread says USA 100 and glows pink (checked with my son's UV pen). I pulled out the magnifying glass and checked the microprinting on the lapel and in the "100" on the bottom left. I have checked everything listed on the Treasury's website and the rest of the security features are present and correct. However, the Federal Reserve seal on the left looks slightly blurry, the border is not crisp like the other $100 I currently have. Is that a sure sign it is not real, even if the microprinting is correct? It's my understanding that microprinting can't be duplicated. Or can it? I would like to be fairly certain it is not counterfeit before sending it off to be graded. I received this bill from my bank and if I think it is not real, I will take it back and talk to them first.

They both appear the same to me. I see franklin in both watermarks.

I am not a paper person (though I would love more of it) so I snagged a image of a Grant wm to put next to your Franklin wm:





I do not know enough about the printing process but from this it looks to me when comparing the two:

1) Hair lines above forheads are different
2) Eyebrows are different
3) Hair lines at the bottoms are different
4) Noses are different
5) Eyes are different

IMHO it is not Grant. Can an argument be made that it is not Franklin? If you wish. I just do not believe it is Grant in the watermark.

I took the bill to a coin collector this afternoon. It is definitely not a watermark of Franklin NOR of Grant. The facial features are very similar to the older watermark of Grant but the hairline is not similar. There is a beard on the watermark that I have that isn't too clear on the photo. The coin collector says it is DEFINITELY a real bill, it has the security thread that is authentic, the ink is authentic, the microprinting and color shift ink are all there also. He advised me to just spend it or put in bank, there is nothing wrong with it, I need the money, and he said it wouldn't be worth very much more than $100 if it is a printing error.

Does anyone have advise on how to go about researching if there were similar printing errors? Mine can't possible be the only one IF it is a true error. I really don't want to talk to the bank who gave me the bill because I still feel there might be a chance it is one of those supernotes from N. Korea or Iran or wherever. The supernotes supposedly have microprinting, the security strip, etc., similar paper composition.

If I just take it back to the bank I received it from, and the bill has the teller's fingerprints, and they conclude it is in fact a supernote, is the teller's fingerprints enough proof that they actually passed me the bill?

I know a collector who would pay handsomely for a confirmed supernote.

Since you are so convinced it is some kind of error send it to be graded to end the suspense.