More money was printed by the U.S. government in April than a month earlier and the combined value of the bills climbed as well, data from the agency responsible for producing U.S. currency shows.
560 million in $1s, $5s, $20s $50s and $100s were made last month for a total value of $10.656 billion, according to latest round of monthly production figures from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). By comparison, March saw 509.4 million notes worth just over $9.1 billion.
$50s appeared in April for the first time since October. In other month-over-month changes, 10.3% fewer $1s were made while other denominations increased by 77.8% for $5s and 22.8% for $20s. In a rarity, the amount of $100s printed in April match the previous month.
Here are images of the BEP reports showing the type of banknotes manufactured during the month:
April 2014 BEP Banknote Production
Facility at Washington, DC
Facility at Fort Worth, TX
In April, the BEP printed 3.2 million $20 star notes. These are indicated by the "*" designator in the production chart above. Star notes are replacements for misprinted notes or certain serial numbers, like 000 000 000. Money collectors find them desirable since they are more difficult to find.
The following table lists the type, the amount and the total value of banknotes printed by the BEP for the month:
Banknotes by Denomination: Total Printed and Values
April 2014
Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
$1.00 | 224,000,000 | 224,000,000 |
$2.00 | 0 | 0 |
$5.00 | 51,200,000 | 256,000,000 |
$10.00 | 0 | 0 |
$20.00 | 220,800,000 | 4,416,000,000 |
$50.00 | 12,800,000 | 640,000,000 |
$100.00 | 51,200,000 | 5,120,000,000 |
Totals | 560,000,000 | 10,656,000,000 |
As a perspective, the BEP in Fiscal Year 2013 manufactured about 26 million banknotes a day with a face value of about $1.3 billion. Approximately 6.6 billion notes went out for the year at an average cost of 10 cents per banknote. The BEP also reported that more than 90% of the paper notes printed each year are to replace those already in, or taken out of circulation.
For comparison, four previous monthly money production tables follow.
March 2014
Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
$1.00 | 249,600,000 | 249,600,000 |
$2.00 | 0 | 0 |
$5.00 | 28,800,000 | 144,000,000 |
$10.00 | 0 | 0 |
$20.00 | 179,840,000 | 3,596,800,000 |
$50.00 | 0 | 0 |
$100.00 | 51,200,000 | 5,120,000,000 |
Totals | 509,440,000 | 9,110,400,000 |
February 2014
Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
$1.00 | 122,240,000 | 122,240,000 |
$2.00 | 0 | 0 |
$5.00 | 25,920,000 | 129,600,000 |
$10.00 | 83,200,000 | 832,000,000 |
$20.00 | 108,800,000 | 2,176,000,000 |
$50.00 | 0 | 0 |
$100.00 | 60,800,000 | 6,080,000,000 |
Totals | 400,960,000 | 9,339,840,000 |
January 2014
Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
$1.00 | 179,200,000 | 179,200,000 |
$2.00 | 0 | 0 |
$5.00 | 0 | 0 |
$10.00 | 70,400,000 | 704,000,000 |
$20.00 | 172,800,000 | 3,456,000,000 |
$50.00 | 0 | 0 |
$100.00 | 83,200,000 | 8,320,000,000 |
Totals | 505,600,000 | 12,659,200,000 |
December 2013
Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
$1.00 | 124,960,000 | 124,960,000 |
$2.00 | 0 | 0 |
$5.00 | 0 | 0 |
$10.00 | 51,200,000 | 512,000,000 |
$20.00 | 83,200,000 | 1,664,000,000 |
$50.00 | 0 | 0 |
$100.00 | 83,200,000 | 8,320,000,000 |
Totals | 342,560,000 | 10,620,960,000 |