GRANTS PASS, Ore. - A couple spent $1,300 in counterfeit $100 bills at eight or more businesses, police said.

Most of the counterfeit bills were passed on June 16, 2008. The locations included Fashion Bug, J.C. Penny, Famous Footwear, Rite Aid, Gottschalks, Bank of America, Liberty Bank and Carries Candies.

Police are looking for a Hispanic male, age 25 to 35, 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall, weighing 180 to 190 pounds, and a Hispanic female, age 25 to 35.

Police advised businesses to be careful when taking $100 bills. Anyone seeing the above described persons passing $100 bills or vehicles associated with these persons is asked to contact the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety at (541) 474-6370.  

Improved imaging technologies, from scanners to ink jet printers, prompted the U.S. to launch a redesign of its currency in 1996.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says that the $100 is the next bill slated for re-design to enhance security. There are no plans to redesign the $1 or $2.

MULTIMEDIA | U.S. Currency security features of the $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills

Facts About $100 Notes

• The first $100 notes (called United States Notes or “Legal Tenders”) were issued by the Federal Government in 1862 and featured a vignette of an American eagle.
  
• The first use of Benjamin Franklin’s portrait on $100 notes was on the first series of Federal Reserve Notes, Series 1914.
  
• The $100 note is the largest denomination currently issued in the United States.
  
• The life span of a $100 Federal Reserve Note is 89 months. (Other denominations have different life spans.)
  
• Beginning with Series 1996, $100 Federal Reserve Notes feature large portraits, watermarks in the paper, and color-shifting ink. The notes also included micro-printing (small lettering that is hard to replicate); on the face of the note, “USA 100” is within the number in the lower left corner and “United States of America” appears as a line in the left lapel of Benjamin Franklin’s coat.
  
• Vignette on the Back of the $100 Note: Since Series 1928, the $100 note has featured an engraving of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The former State House of Pennsylvania, Independence Hall is often called the birthplace of our Nation. Within its walls the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution of the United States was drafted.
  There is no record that the man and woman standing in front of the hall close to the building are embracing. The hands of the clock on the hall are set at approximately 4:10. There are no records explaining why that particular time was chosen.