23.49 million more bills were produced in August as compared to July, the latest round of U.S. currency production figures from the U.S. government reveal. The increase breaks a streak of two monthly declines.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), the agency responsible for printing American money, released their August numbers on Friday, September 17. The production data shows that $5s were not printed for the first time since January while a greater number of $1s and $100s were issued. Fewer $20s were needed. $10s and $50s remained at zero, continuing a silence that began in July 2009.
The BEP produced 471,360,000 banknotes in August 2010 which translated to $22,393,600,000 across the various denominations. July figures indicated 447.8 million notes worth more than $21.3 billion were manufactured.
August turned out to be the second slowest month for the BEP this year — right after July, although the monetary value of the bills printed is the second highest of the year, as the following table illustrates.
2010 Monthly Banknote Totals
| # Notes (in millions) |
Total Value (in billions) |
|
| January | 487.000 | $14.100 |
| February | 504.476 | $14.098 |
| March | 605.952 | $22.138 |
| April | 519.136 | $21.735 |
| May | 551.680 | $24.266 |
| June | 547.840 | $22.275 |
| July | 447.872 | $21.325 |
| August | 471.360 | $22.394 |
As compared to July’s bills, August saw 25.6 million more $1s printed, fewer $20s by 14.9+ million and more $100s to the tune of 13.4+ million.
August 2010 BEP Money Production
Facility at Washington, DC
Facility at Fort Worth, TX
The BEP also produced a number of $20 and $100 star notes, as depicted by the "*" reference in the above images. Star notes are replacements for misprinted notes or certain serial numbers, like 000 000 000. As they are rarer, money collectors generally find them more desirable.
Bills by Denomination, Volume and Value
August 2010
| Denomination | Total Printed | Total Value |
| $1.00 | 115,200,000 | 115,200,000 |
| $5.00 | 0 | 0 |
| $10.00 | 0 | 0 |
| $20.00 | 166,720,000 | 3,334,400,000 |
| $50.00 | 0 | 0 |
| $100.00 | 189,440,000 | 18,944,000,000 |
| August Totals | 471,360,000 | 22,393,600,000 |
Spread across the 31 days last month, the BEP averaged over 15.2 million notes per day with a total daily value of about $722.37 million.
For reference, the prior month of production figures are included below:
July 2010
| Denomination | Total Printed | Total Value |
| $1.00 | 89,600,000 | 89,600,000 |
| $5.00 | 640,000 | 3,200,000 |
| $10.00 | 0 | 0 |
| $20.00 | 181,632,000 | 3,632,640,000 |
| $50.00 | 0 | 0 |
| $100.00 | 176,000,000 | 17,600,000,000 |
| July Totals | 447,872,000 | 21,325,440,000 |
