"I'm a $5, I'm a $5. You need to pay attention, I'm a $5." That's what Bureau of Engraving and Printing Director Larry Felix says the newly unveiled $5 bill design screams.

And he's quite right. Its new design makes it distinctively a $5 note. From the new light purple coloring to the large purple 5 on the back, the little yellow 05s on front and back and the four new watermarks of 5 numerals, this is clearly a $5 bill. You can see images at www.banknotereporter.com.

The colorized $5 design debuted online at 9 a.m. Eastern today. I'm in the Central time zone, so I logged in at about 7:50 my time and went to www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney.

I was concerned about technical glitches, so I was viewing the site on two computers, one a Mac and one a PC, on separate high-speed Internet lines. On two screens I watched a clock count down to the big moment, and ... voila! Right on time, streaming video began playing. Music played, graphics moved. There were images of notes being produced. A voice-over started.

Then it froze. And jumped. On both computers.

Oh great. It wasn't loading fast enough for the players. My guess is that there were a lot of people trying to view it at that time. Or maybe it was my Internet speed. I wonder how it worked for others — did you view it? If so, I hope you'll post a comment about your experience.

Eventually I got through all of the video, but first I wanted to break away and take part in the press Q&A that was made available at 9:30 Eastern. I had preregistered, so I figured this should work smoothly.

Alas, when I tried to type my questions, nothing happened. I tried several times with no luck. I decided I'd e-mail my questions and follow up on the phone, similar to what I'd do if the unveiling event had been a live ceremony that I wasn't able to attend in person.

While I let the video continue to load on one computer, I used the other to download images of the new design. I read information about the $5 online and typed up my initial report. It was posted at NumisMaster.com, www.banknotereporter.com and www.numismaticnews.net by about 10:15 a.m. Central, thanks to quick work by Dave Harper, Lisa Bellavin and Maggie Pahl. You can see images of the new note at those sites.

Even though I experienced some technical glitches, I think this digital debut was a solid success. It brought everyone interested in the information directly to the source. It eliminated any chance of terrorist interference — which may sound odd to most of us but is a real consideration when staging a live event.

I just hope my Internet is upgraded by the time the $100 is unveiled.

Congratulations to Flying Cloud Kowalski, known to most of us as Gene Hessler. He received the Clemy Award at the Numismatic Literary Guild's annual NLG Bash Aug. 9.

Keeping with tradition, the top annual award given by the NLG was announced by last year's winner, Barbara J. Gregory.

Earlier in the evening, Hessler had been given a rubber chicken, held aloft in the accompanying photo by Scott Travers while a laughing Dorothy Harris looks on. The rubber chicken presentation was likely a move intended to distract and confuse, as the Clemy announcement is normally a surprise to the recipient.

The complete list of NLG award winners will appear at the NLG Web site soon.

The European Central Bank's latest report on euro note counterfeiting shows that "The €50 was the most counterfeited banknote in the first half of 2007, accounting for around a half of the total counterfeits found in circulation."

Total number of fake euros found in the first half of 2007 was listed as 265,000, meaning fake €50s seized numbered about 132,500 notes with a face value of €6,625,000. That's $9,138,127.50 in today's U.S. dollars.

Actually, 265,000 out of about 11 billion notes in circulation isn't bad.

Fakers' fondness for the €50 is not new. It has been the denomination of choice for counterfeiters nearly continually since the euro's introduction to circulation in January 2002. The €50 was the most counterfeited denomination until 2006, when the €20 took the lead. Now the €50 has reemerged on top, but notably the €100 fakes are coming on strong.

Altogether, these three denominations have typically made up 85-90 percent of all euro fakes seized.

The ECB reports on this twice a year. For perspective, here are the totals from previous reports:

2002/1 - 21,965 fakes removed from circulation in this six-month period
2002/2 - 145,153 "

2003/1 - 230,534 "
2003/2 - 311,925 "

2004/1 - 307,223 "
2004/2 - 287,000 "

2005/1 - 293,000 " (the €50 made up 62% of this total)
2005/2 - 286,000 "

2006/1 - 300,000 " (the €20 took the lead this period, 44% vs. the €50's 36%)
2006/2 - 265,000 " (the €20 held its lead, at 36% vs. the €50's 31%)

2007/1 - 265,000 " (the €50 reemerges at 50% vs. the €20's 15%)