Rich and Dennis:
I didn't say I believed them, I was just interested in what they'd say. I also find it highly unlikely that any type of transmitting device could be placed in our Fed notes, but this nonetheless is food for thought. Or food for disposal, if you wish.
The Fed contact is through a business associate, and my banking friend is an executive VP (with the bank about 8 yrs). I'd like to have come to you with a telephone number to call to verify all of this, or photographs/tapes to illustrate their statements. But these were casual conversations not interrogations. The questions were asked like I was joking, and ignorant of the workings of the Fed.
The Fed contact described many details about the Fed bank security including "gun turrets", shell game truck deliveries, counting procedures, currency destruction processes, and a 10,000 sf vault with pallets stacked with currency. This person said that many of the security measures included on the new bills were "not disclosed to the public". In fact, I was invited for a personal guided tour when I want to go. Maybe I'll go and report back first hand. I didn't get the impression that this person was some "insider", just an executive worker bee tending the hive.
I'm not sure what else I could tell you at this point. When someone puts a bug in your ear about tracking new bills electronically, then one day you're sitting with someone at lunch that may be able to shed some light on that story, you just have to ask.