ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, February 22, 1997            TAG: 9702240062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-5  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON

NEW $50 BILL'S RELEASE DELAYED

Don't look for those redesigned $50 bills until later this year.

The new bills were supposed to be hitting the streets this spring, following by about a year the introduction of redesigned $100 bills.

Larry Felix, a spokesman for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, said this week that Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin probably will not make a decision on how the new bills will look until ``early spring.'' As a result, the new bills will not go into production and introduction until months later than planned, Felix said.

The delays are the result of efforts to add features that would ``assist the visually impaired,'' Felix said. Previous tests have indicated that ideas such as added raised characters and placing special perforations along the edges of the currency to help individuals with vision problems to identify the bills will not work well on currency in wide circulation, Felix said.

- The Washington Post

LENGTH: Short :   28 lines