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U.S. BUSINESS > An Overview of the U.S. Economy > Dollars & Cents: Fundamental Facts About U.S. Money

Currency Features

All U.S. currency is produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which also designs, engraves, and prints items such as postage stamps. The box below describes how currency is printed.

Since 1862 all U.S. currency has been printed in Washington, D.C., but to help meet increasing demand, a second printing facility was opened in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1991. Fort Worth now produces about half the nation's currency.

Security Features

Because U.S. currency is universally accepted and trusted, it is widely counterfeited. The U.S. Secret Service was created in 1865 to curtail counterfeiting. (See tips for spotting counterfeit currency.)

U.S. currency is printed by the engraved intaglio steel plate method, a complicated procedure that gives notes an embossed feel and other distinctive features difficult to counterfeit.

For security reasons each feature of a note—the portrait, vignette, ornaments, lettering, script, and scrollwork—is the work of a separate, specially trained engraver. A geometric lathe is used to produce the intricate lacy design and borders.

A steel die is made of each feature. Rolls made from these dies are put together into a master die of the complete note. The master die is then used in the first of a series of operations leading to the making of press plates from which the notes are printed.

 

U.S. currency has many features that deter counterfeiters. One is the cotton and linen rag paper it is printed on. The paper has a distinctive, pliable feel and has tiny red and blue fibers embedded in it. Though a commercial company produces the paper, it is illegal for anyone to manufacture or use a similar type except by special authority. Special inks manufactured by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing according to secret formulas also help prevent counterfeiting.

As technology advances and copiers, printers, electronic digital scanners, color work stations, and computers become more sophisticated, more advanced security features have been added to deter counterfeiting. Two of these advanced features—a security thread and microprinting—were first added in series 1990 notes. These two features and a number of additional ones were incorporated into a series of completely redesigned notes that first appeared in 1996 with the $100 note. The redesigned $50 and $20 notes were issued in 1997 and 1998, respectively. The redesigned $10 and $5 notes, issued in 2000, include most of the new features.

Redesigned and existing notes will circulate at the same time. As older notes wear out and as the new-design currency is available, the new notes will replace the older ones. Of course, all U.S. money, whether old or new, retains its full value as the United States has never recalled any of its currency.

In determining what features would be most effective in deterring counterfeiting of U.S. currency, more than 120 security features were examined and tested, including some used in other nations' currencies. The features chosen are illustrated in the diagram and described below.


Portrait
One of the most noticeable changes is a larger, slightly off-center portrait that incorporates more detail. Moving the portrait off-center reduces wear on the portrait and provides more room for the watermark.

Watermark
A watermark, created during the paper-making process, depicts the same historical figure as the portrait. It is visible from both sides when held up to a light.

Security thread
An embedded polymer strip, positioned in a unique spot for each denomination, guards against counterfeiting. The thread itself, visible when held up to a bright light, contains microprinting—the letters USA, the denomination of the bill, and, on the $50 and $20, a flag. When viewed under ultraviolet light, the thread glows a distinctive color for each denomination.

Color-shifting ink
The ink used in the numeral in the lower right-hand corner on the front of the bill looks green when viewed straight on but black when viewed at an angle.

Microprinting
Microprinting, which can be read only with a magnifier and becomes blurred when copied, appears in unique places on each denomination. For example, on the $20 bill, it appears around the border of the portrait and within the number in the lower left corner.

Fine-line printing patterns
Fine-line printing patterns appear on both sides of the note, in the background of the portrait and the buildings. This type of printing is difficult to reproduce on scanning equipment or replicate by other printing methods.

Low-vision feature
A large dark numeral on the back of the note makes it easier for people with low vision to identify the note's denomination.

Other Design Features

Several other design characteristics of U.S. notes, some of which are shown in the diagram, are described below.

Series
The series identification shows the year the note design was first used. If a slight change is made in the note that does not require a completely new engraving plate—for example, a change in signature when the Secretary of the Treasury or the Treasurer of the United States changes—the year remains the same and a letter is added to show that the design differs slightly from previous printings. The number of changes is shown by the appropriate letter of the alphabet. A C suffix, for example, as in "Series 1935C," means that the original design has been changed slightly three times.

Serial number
No two notes of the same kind, denomination, and series have the same serial number. This fact can be important in detecting counterfeit notes; many counterfeiters make large batches of a particular note with the same number.

Notes are numbered in lots of 100 million. Each lot has a different suffix letter, beginning with A and following in alphabetical order through Z, omitting O because of its similarity to the numeral zero.

Because serial numbers are limited to eight numerals, a "star" note is substituted for the 100 millionth note. Star notes also replace notes damaged in the printing process. Made up with independent runs of serial numbers, star notes are exactly like the notes they replace except that a star is substituted for one of the serial letters.

Serial numbers on the redesigned, series 1996 currency differ slightly from those of previous series. The new serial numbers consist of two prefix letters, eight numerals, and a one-letter suffix. The first letter of the prefix designates the series. The second letter of the prefix designates the Federal Reserve Bank to which the note was issued.

Size
Until July 1929 U.S. currency was 7.42 inches by 3.13 inches. Currency printed since 1929 is 6.14 inches by 2.61 inches, a size easier to handle and less expensive to produce.

Portraits and emblems
The seven denominations of notes now produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing feature portraits of American statesmen on the face and emblems and monuments on the back.

Bank tellers and others who know how to handle currency use the portrait in assembling and counting it. They assemble each denomination separately and uniformly—face up and top up. This practice also helps handlers detect counterfeit and altered notes. All Reserve Banks require banks to arrange their currency for deposit in this way.

"In God We Trust"
Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase first authorized use of "In God We Trust" on U.S. money—on the two-cent coin in 1864—after receiving a number of appeals from citizens urging that the Deity be recognized on U.S. coins. In 1955, Congress mandated the use of this phrase on all currency and coins. All denominations of paper money now being issued carry the motto.

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