Interesting Money Facts

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has printed currency for the governments of the Republic of China, in 1934, Siam, in 1945, Korea, in 1947 and the Philippines, in 1928.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has two locations: one in Washington, DC, and another in Fort Worth, Texas.

There is about $500 billion of U.S. currency in circulation and most of it is held outside of the United States. 

To have your picture on a bill, you must be known for something you have done for our country and you must be deceased.

"In God We Trust," was designed planned to appear on U.S. currency in 1957 and has appeared on all U.S. money since 1963.

The origin of the dollar sign is not known, but might be derived from the Spanish or Mexican "P's" that appeared on the peso, piastres or pieces of eight.

People used to save their cash in kitchen jars made of a clay called pygg, and people called them pygg jars. Later they became known as piggy banks and were made in the shape of pigs.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints 37 million notes a day with a value of around $696 million dollars.

Between the Fort Worth Texas and the Washington D.C. facilities, The Bureau of Engraving and Printing uses about 18 tons of ink per day.

Did you know that a dollar bill, a five-dollar bill, a ten-dollar bill, and a one hundred-dollar bill all weigh the same?

The approximate weight of all U.S. bills is one gram.

There are 454 grams in one pound. If you had a pound of one-dollar bills, you would have $454.00!
 
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has been printing paper bills since 1861.

The ink and paper used to print money today, is the same as that used to print money during the Civil War.

The US Dollar bill as all other US paper money other currency amount is in fact a 75% Cotton and 25% Linen special blend, with red and blue minute silk fibers running through it. We've all washed it without it falling apart. A special blend of ink is used, the contents are only known by the US Mint. It is overprinted with symbols and then it is starched to make it water resistant and pressed to give it that nice crisp look.

If we laid each current U.S. bill printed side by side they would stretch around the earth's equator about 24 times.

On March 2, 1999 the Liberty Dollar Bill Act was introduced after a presentation to Congress by a group of students? The students want a short version of the U.S. Constitution printed on the back of the one dollar bill. Click here to see the bill!

The $20 is the most counterfeited in the US.

The $100 is the most counterfeited in foreign countries.

In l997, a total of $136,205,241 in counterfeit U.S. currency was discovered worldwide.

There are only 9 engravers in the whole U.S. who do all the engraving for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

All engraving plates used by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing have been engraved in reverse.

If your money is mutilated if you can account for 51% of your bill, the Office of Currency Standards in Washington, D.C. will replace your money.

The 1804 Dexter Dollar was auctioned off in 1989 for $990,000

On April 8, 1997, another 1804 dollar was sold for $1,650,000

From December 1934 to January 1935 the Bureau of Engraving and Printing printed the largest notes ever printed, which were $100,000 gold certificates.  They were used for transaction between the Federal Reserve Banks, but were not shared with the general public.

The largest note in use by the general public now is the one hundred-dollar bill.

The pyramid on the back of the $1 bill represents strength and permanence and it looks unfinished to symbolize the future growth of our country.

The eye represents God and the Latin phrase "Annuit Coeptis" means, "He has favored our undertakings."

The inscription"Novus Ordo Seclorum" means "New order of the ages.

It only costs 4.1 cents to make a $1 bill. It costs the same thing to make a $100 bill.

In the early 1900's you could return dirty money to Washington to be cleaned.  If the bill was in good shape, they would wash it, iron it, and reissue it.

The average amount of time a one-dollar bill lasts in use is about twenty-one months. One hundred dollar-bills last about eighty-nine months. They last longer because they are not passed from one person to another as many times as one-dollar bills are.

Only one woman has had her picture on American currency notes. Martha Washington's picture was put on one-dollar notes in 1886. Her husband, George Washington, had his picture printed on one-dollar notes in 1869.

When bills finally wear out, they are sent back to the Federal Reserve Banks where a machine sorts out the good, the bad, and the counterfeit.  The counterfeit bills are sent to the Secret Service. The worn out bills are pulverized and buried. They used to burn old bills, but because of the lead in the ink, they are now buried.

Before paper money was used, Americans used buckskins for money.  This is where we get the term "bucks."

There are 4 automobiles and 11 light posts on the back of the $10 bill.

All coinage is produced by the United States Mint

One-sixth of the world’s coinage is minted in Philadelphia.

Copper and nickel alloy rolls 1216 feet long make 290,000 “blanks” for nickels worth

$14,500 at a cost of $6000

The coining press strikes twelve times a second.

Copper-nickel-zinc-manganese alloy in new dollars cost 12 cents.

Height of relief figures in the Sacagawea is 12/1000 of an inch.

Pennies are struck at 35 tons of pressure, nickels at 50 tons, quarters at 65 tons, and the Sacagawea at 85 tons.

The Liberty Head Nickel, first minted in 1883, did not have the word "cents" inscribed onto it. Dishonest investors illegally gold plated the coins and attempted to sell them as $5 gold pieces.. The United States Mint soon quickly figured out what was going on and added the word "cents" to the nickels.

The inscription "E Pluribus Unum," meaning "One from Many" appeared on 1795 Liberty Cap-Heraldic Eagle gold $5 piece. This was the first time this motto was used on United States Coins.

If you used a magnifying glass, you can see Abraham Lincoln sitting at the Lincoln Memorial on the back of a penny.

The Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar was the first United States coin to have an image of an African-American. It was minted from the years 1946 to 1951.

The United States Mint estimates that the average life expectancy of a circulating coin is about 30 years, whereas paper currency usually only lasts for as little as 18 months.

The smallest denomination coin ever issued in the United States. was the half cent, which was minted from 1793 through 1857. The United States Mint produced its first circulating coins in 1793.

There is more than $8 billion worth of coins circulating in the United States today. In the past 30 years, the United States Mint has minted over 300 billion coins, worth more than $15 billion.

If one has three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies in your possession, they have the largest possible amount of money in United States coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

Calvin Coolidge was the first and only United States President to have his portrait appear on a coin minted while he was living.

In l943, pennies were only made of copper for a short time.

A 1943 copper cent was auctioned off on December 22, 1999, for $112,500

When the U.S Mint discussed getting rid of the penny the public was outraged, especially in Illinois, the home state of Abraham Lincoln.

In the early 20th century the U.S. Mint began producing commemorative coins that depict events in U.S. history.

The process is master die to working hub to working die. A working die will strike

300,000 times before wearing out.

Highest price ever paid for a $20 gold coin was $1,210,000

During the Civil War, bills were printed for three cents, five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, and fifty cents. The paper "coins" had to be printed because people were saving their metal coins. They knew the metal coins would always be worth something. 

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