Where Is US Currency Printed and How Is It Made

The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is the official institution responsible for producing US currency, and it's located in Washington D.C. and Fort Worth, Texas.

The BEP produces over 38 million notes per day, with a total value of over $600 million.

The process of making US currency is complex and involves several stages, including designing, cutting, and printing the paper and ink.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) in Washington D.C. is one of the two facilities where US currency is printed. The BEP produces all US paper currency, including $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills.

The BEP uses a special paper called "currency paper" that is made from 75% cotton and 25% linen to produce the bills. This special paper is designed to be durable and resistant to wear and tear.

The BEP produces over 38 million notes per day, making it one of the largest printers in the world.

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The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) has two locations where currency is printed: Washington, D.C. and Fort Worth, Texas.

The BEP in Washington, D.C. is responsible for printing all denominations of US currency, with the exception of the $100,000 gold certificate.

The BEP in Fort Worth, Texas produces 40% of all US currency, including $1, $2, $5, $10, and $100 bills.

The Fort Worth facility is also home to the largest currency-printing press in the world, capable of producing up to 8,000 notes per hour.

The BEP in Washington, D.C. has been printing currency since 1862, making it the oldest and most historic of the two facilities.

The Fort Worth facility has been in operation since 1963 and has undergone several major upgrades over the years to increase production capacity.

Both facilities use advanced security features to prevent counterfeiting, including watermarks, color-shifting ink, and microprinting.

The BEP in Washington, D.C. produces currency for the Federal Reserve, which then distributes it to banks and financial institutions across the country.

The Fort Worth facility also produces currency for the Federal Reserve, with some notes being sent directly to banks and others being stored in vaults for distribution at a later time.

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Security Features are built into US currency to prevent counterfeiting and ensure authenticity. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) and the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) work together to design and implement these features.

The BEP uses advanced technology, such as color-shifting ink, to create security features that are difficult to replicate. The $100 bill, for example, features a color-shifting 100 in the lower right corner that changes from copper to green when tilted.

Microprinting is another security feature used on US currency. The BEP uses tiny fonts to print phrases like "USA 100" on the $100 bill, making it hard to reproduce.

Security threads are embedded in the paper to make it difficult to counterfeit. The $100 bill, for instance, has a 3D Security Ribbon with images of 100s and Liberty Bells that shift and change as the bill is tilted.

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The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is moving to a new location in Beltsville, MD. This move was announced by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan on April 27, 2022.

The new facility will be built on 114 acres within the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). The Department of Agriculture has transferred ownership of this land to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The new facility is expected to be completed in early 2027.

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The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has a rich history that dates back to the Civil War era. In July 1861, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to issue paper currency, known as Demand Notes, to help fund the war effort. These notes were essentially government IOUs, payable "on demand" in coin at certain Treasury facilities.

The government had no facility for producing paper money, so a private firm produced the Demand Notes in sheets of four, which were then sent to the Treasury Department for signing and cutting by hand. The Second Legal Tender Act of 1862 allowed the Treasury Secretary to engrave and print notes at the Treasury Department.

The first official currency processing operations were not formally organized until the creation of the Office of Comptroller of the Currency and National Currency Bureau in 1863. However, these operations were known by various semi-official labels, such as the "Printing Bureau" and "Currency Department", until 1874.

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The Bureau of Engraving and Printing was officially recognized in congressional legislation in 1874, with a specific allocation of operating funds for the fiscal year of 1875. This marked the beginning of the BEP's formal existence as a government agency responsible for currency production.

Here are the locations where US currency is printed:

The BEP has a long history of producing a variety of products in addition to currency, including passports, money orders, and postage stamps. The production of postage stamps began in 1894, and for almost a century, the BEP was the sole producer of postage stamps in the country.

The US currency production process is a fascinating story of innovation and efficiency. In 1929, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) redesigned currency, significantly reducing note size and converting from eight-note printing plates to twelve-note plates.

This reduction in size allowed the BEP to make further improvements in the coming years. In 1943, the BEP started experimenting with new inks that dried faster, eliminating the need for tissues between sheets to prevent ink offsetting.

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The faster-drying ink also enabled printed sheets of backs to be kept damp until the faces were printed, reducing distortion caused by wetting, drying, and re-wetting of the paper.

By 1952, the BEP was able to convert from 12-note printing plates to plates capable of printing 18 notes in each sheet. Five years later, in 1957, the BEP began printing currency via the dry intaglio method, allowing for a further increase from 18 to 32 notes per sheet.

Today, all US currency is printed using the dry intaglio process, which involves fine-line engravings being transferred to steel plates from which an impression is made on sheets of distinctive paper.

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The future of currency production is an exciting topic, and it's already happening in the US. The Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) and the Federal Reserve's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) are working together to develop new technologies.

These technologies include digital currency and contactless payment methods. The BEP is also exploring the use of blockchain to secure and verify transactions. This will make it harder for counterfeiters to produce fake currency.

The US government is also considering the possibility of issuing a digital dollar, which would be a digital version of the US dollar. This would allow for faster and more secure transactions, and would reduce the need for physical currency.

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The future of currency production is an exciting topic, and I'm happy to share some interesting developments with you. In 2022, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) would be relocating from its historic Washington, D.C. location to Beltsville, Maryland.

The new facility is expected to be completed in early 2027, and it will be located at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). The U.S. Department of Treasury has transferred ownership of 114 acres within BARC to accommodate the new facility.

This move is a significant change for the BEP, which has been producing currency in Washington, D.C. since 1862. It will be interesting to see how the new facility impacts the production of currency in the future.

The new facility will be built on 114 acres of land, which is a significant size. I'm not sure what the exact plans are for the old facility in Washington, D.C., but I'm sure it will be repurposed for something else.

Here are some key dates related to the BEP's relocation:

Technological advancements have played a significant role in the evolution of currency production. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) has made several breakthroughs in the production of non-offset inks, which has increased the number of notes per sheet.

In 1943, the BEP experimented with new inks that dried faster, allowing printed sheets of backs to be kept damp until the faces were printed. This innovation reduced distortion caused by wetting, drying, and re-wetting of the paper.

The faster drying ink also enabled the BEP to convert from 12-note printing plates to plates capable of printing 18 notes in 1952. This increase in production efficiency was a major improvement.

By 1957, the BEP had developed the dry intaglio method, which utilizes special paper and non-offset inks, enabling a further increase from 18 to 32 notes per sheet. This method has been used since 1968.

The dry intaglio process involves fine-line engravings being transferred to steel plates from which an impression is made on sheets of distinctive paper. Ink is applied to a plate containing 32 note impressions, which is then wiped clean, leaving ink in the engraved lines.

Here's a breakdown of the significant increases in production efficiency:

These advancements have enabled the BEP to deliver 6.6 billion notes at an average cost of 10 cents per note in Fiscal Year 2013.