We're In The Money

In an effort to keep my children entertained with something other than screens, we took a field trip to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, or the BEP. There are only two bureaus in the US--one in D.C. and the one right here in our own backyard. As a matter of fact, if you ever have a bill with 'FW' on it (and chances are you will because there are only 2 facilities) that was made in Cow Town.

The kids were not impressed, but we did learn a bit of trivia.

Eli: They don't cut the bills out, they put it on one big sheet of paper and then they cut it. They have a big sheet of paper and let it dry for one day.

Daisy: Some of the things that the money is made out of is the same things as some parts of blue jeans. Bills are called notes. To make sure money is high quality they hire people to test and make sure that it is laundry proof, chemical proof and crinkle proof. There's hidden things in dollars that make it harder to counterfeit.

Zeke: Presidents are ugly. There is only one female on currency. They do microprinting, which means there are tiny words on money. There are 2 types of printing--the mean back and normal. The machine that puts colors on money can do up to 14 colors but now they only do 3. There are rating scales when testing the quality of bills. There's a machine that has these little plates of metal that is engraved with the outline of money; they put ink on it, brush it away, put paper in the machine, 20 pounds of pressure is put on the paper and the ink goes onto it.

Trish: There is actually a job to wash money in a washing machine to test it for durability. A note can be creased 4,000 times before it tears. You are not allowed to bring your phone/camera in. Hence the only picture of the day->

There are two floors of interactive exhibits and displays showcasing the history of paper currency and the intricacies of the currency production process. The 2nd floor is an enclosed suspended walkway over the production floor. It appears to the layman that there are random piles of bills everywhere at different stages of the printing process. I know there is a method to the madness, but it looks very unorganized. Just sayin'.

The BEP first began in the 1860s to pay the costs of the Civil War. It was a tiny set up in the basement of the Treasury Department. In the 1880s it acquired its own building in D.C.  and modernized the equipment.

A fun fact for my Mom: the BEP produced stamps in the 1890s. After 111 years, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing quit the production of stamps.

It takes approximately 4 weeks to produce a note from the start to finish, from blank paper to finished currency in the vault. It costs 5.5¢ per note to make a $1 and $2 bill and increases up to 14.3¢ for the $100 bill. The FW facility produces $34 million in currency per hour. The daily production rate is 19 million notes per day, averaging $822 million.