The United States government printed more banknotes for circulation in March than in February and during the same period last year, data from the agency responsible for manufacturing American currency shows. The combined value of the notes was also higher from the prior month, but not from a year ago.
529.92 million in $1s, $5s, $10s, $20s and $100s was printed last month for a combined value of more than $8.87 billion, according to Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) monthly production figures published on Tuesday, April 14. In contrast, February’s totals reached 506.88 million notes worth nearly $8.33 billion.
In month-over-month percentage comparisons, March saw 4.5% more notes and their combined value climbed 6.5%. In other monthly differences, there was:
- 12.5% more $5s;
- 28.6% more $10s; and
- 9.7% more $100s
The amount of $1s and $20s matched between the two months. $50s have not been printed for three straight months and printing presses for $2s have been silent for two. In January, $2s were produced for the first time since June.
Compared to a year ago, the number of notes grew 4% from 509,440,000 but their combined value dropped 2.6% from $9,110,400,000. The BEP should continue to pick up their production pace. For 2015, the Fed has ordered 7.2 billion notes valued at over $188.7 billion.
Below are images of the BEP’s latest monthly production report. They show the type of banknotes manufactured in March at each printing facility:
March 2015 BEP Banknote Production
Facility at Washington, DC
Facility at Fort Worth, TX
In March, the BEP produced 5.12 million $100 star notes. These are indicated by the "*" designator in the money production chart directly above. Star notes are replacements for misprinted notes or certain serial numbers, like 000 000 000. Money collectors find them more desirable since they are rarer and more difficult to find.
The following table lists the type, the amount and the total value of banknotes printed by the BEP for the month:
Banknotes by Denomination: Total Printed and Values
March 2015
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $1.00 | 198,400,000 | 198,400,000 |
| $2.00 | – | – |
| $5.00 | 57,600,000 | 288,000,000 |
| $10.00 | 57,600,000 | 576,000,000 |
| $20.00 | 172,800,000 | 3,456,000,000 |
| $50.00 | – | – |
| $100.00 | 43,520,000 | 4,352,000,000 |
| Totals | 529,920,000 | 8,870,400,000 |
As a perspective, the BEP in FY 2014 printed about 24.8 million banknotes a day with a face value of about $560 million. That pace accounts for about 8.9 tons of ink each day. The agency delivered approximately 6.2 billion notes at an average cost of 10 cents per banknote. The BEP notes that more than 90% of paper notes printed each year are used to replace those already in, or taken out of circulation.
For comparison, four previous monthly money production tables follow.
February 2015
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $1.00 | 198,400,000 | 198,400,000 |
| $2.00 | – | – |
| $5.00 | 51,200,000 | 256,000,000 |
| $10.00 | 44,800,000 | 448,000,000 |
| $20.00 | 172,800,000 | 3,456,000,000 |
| $50.00 | – | – |
| $100.00 | 39,680,000 | 3,968,000,000 |
| Totals | 506,880,000 | 8,326,400,000 |
January 2015
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $1.00 | 166,480,000 | 166,480,000 |
| $2.00 | 25,600,000 | 51,200,000 |
| $5.00 | 51,200,000 | 256,000,000 |
| $10.00 | 39,040,000 | 390,400,000 |
| $20.00 | 140,800,000 | 2,816,000,000 |
| $50.00 | – | – |
| $100.00 | 25,984,000 | 2,598,400,000 |
| Totals | 449,104,000 | 6,278,480,000 |
December 2014
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $1.00 | 172,800,000 | 172,800,000 |
| $2.00 | – | – |
| $5.00 | 51,200,000 | 256,000,000 |
| $10.00 | 35,200,000 | 352,000,000 |
| $20.00 | 128,000,000 | 2,560,000,000 |
| $50.00 | 25,600,000 | 1,280,000,000 |
| $100.00 | 29,184,000 | 2,918,400,000 |
| Totals | 441,984,000 | 7,539,200,000 |
November 2014
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $1.00 | 153,600,000 | 153,600,000 |
| $2.00 | – | – |
| $5.00 | 80,000,000 | 400,000,000 |
| $10.00 | 38,400,000 | 384,000,000 |
| $20.00 | 172,800,000 | 3,456,000,000 |
| $50.00 | 60,800,000 | 3,040,000,000 |
| $100.00 | 9,856,000 | 985,600,000 |
| Totals | 515,456,000 | 8,419,200,000 |
SOMEDAY…when all this paper $$ comes back to roost, it will cost $10 for Big Mac…..they print it like Charmin yet pay no %% on $$ in the bank, why, buy stocks, prop up the STOCK market, of course when it crashes all of the listeners & those who tried to make some $$ willget phucked