The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) office in Washington, D.C. is responsible for producing a majority of the United State’s printed dollar bill currency, with the BEP’s second office in Fort Worth, Texas predominantly leading the production of secure documents like passports or Treasury Securities.
So even though Washington, D.C. might be more famous for its museums than Fort Worth is for printing money, it’s interesting to hear how the number break down!
How much U.S. Currency is printed in Washington, D.C.
While the exact number of how much money is printed at the BEP’s Washington, D.C. office is not a public record for security reasons, the D.C. BEP office on average prints millions of dollars’ worth of U.S. currency each day!
Of course, the exact amount of dollar bills printed and their total valuation will depend on several factors like current needs, production schedules, etc. That being said, Washington, D.C.’s BEP office is capable of printing billions(!) of U.S. dollars in a day, if they had a goal to print as much money as possible within 24 hours, thanks to its high-tech and high-speed ‘printing presses’ and highly trained staff of technical experts.
Nonetheless, the fact is that roughly 70-80% of all U.S. ‘paper’ currency is made in the Washington, D.C. BEP office.
How are U.S. dollar bills printed?
All dollar bills, whether printed in Washington, D.C., or Fort Worth, Texas, actually begin their life in the small town of Dalton, Massachusetts, where a company called Crane Currency famously creates the ‘paper’ used for producing all of America’s dollar bills!
What ‘Paper’ is used to make dollar bills?
The ‘paper’ used to make America’s dollar bills is not paper at all, it’s a secret blend of cotton and linen fibers designed to be exceptionally durable and resistant to wear and tear.
Once the sheets of ‘paper’ are prepared by Crane Currency in Dalton, Massachusetts, they are shipped to BEP’s printing offices in D.C. and Fort Worth to be turned into proper currency!
What ink is used to make dollar bills?
The famous green ink used to make America’s dollar bills is where the iconic “greenbacks” nickname for our paper currency originated, dating back to the Civil War era when the green ink was first introduced to deter counterfeiters.
The exact composition of the ink is naturally a closely guarded secret of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, but what we do know is that it contains a lot of added security features to prevent counterfeiters from trying to replicate it, like color-shifting properties and ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence.
What is the serial number on a dollar bill?
The serial number of a dollar bill is a unique number that allows the U.S. Government to track the production of U.S. currency and avoid the risk of counterfeiting, which means that every dollar ever produced, whether it be a $1 bill or a $100 bill, should have a unique serial number.
There have been instances where misprints have occurred and multiple dollar bills have been given the same serial number by incident, these are considered misprints, and if you manage to find two bills with the same serial number, the pair of those could be worth up to $150,000 to some collectors, even if it’s just a pair of two $1 bill!