Here are some facts about the nation's currency you may want to spend some time on:
• Each day, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces 37 million currency notes, with a face value of about $696 million. About 45 percent of the notes are the $1 denomination.
• 95 percent of the currency notes printed each year are used to replace notes that are already in circulation.
• All of the notes printed each year (laid end to end) would stretch around the Earth's equator approximately 30 times.
• The small currency notes in use today were first introduced in 1929.
• Crane Paper Company (Dalton, Massachusetts) makes rag-based paper for the Federal Reserve Note. Crane was founded in 1801.
• All bills--even those from 1861--are still valid.
The Paper
Currency paper has a unique feel and is extremely durable. Because: The paper of currency notes is composed of 75 percent cotton and 25 percent linen. The paper contains red and blue fibers of various lengths. Reason: to ensure that reproduction is difficult.
Interestingly, the thread for the $100 bill carries the word "USA100" and can only be seen with transmitted light. New threads glow red when held over ultraviolet light. In 1996, a watermark was added to the paper.
Size, Weight, Color
All printed notes since 1929 are the same size, approximately 2.6 by 6.15 inches. Each note weighs about 1 gram. There is no definite reason why green was chosen originally for the U.S. currency.
Paper Machines
Voith Paper is the process supplier for the worldwide paper industry and manufactures the papermaking machines that produce the paper for currency notes.
The papermaking process is very complex; therefore, high-tech machines are necessary. Voith develops technological solutions that cover the entire paper production process-from fiber to wrapped paper-even for special paper such as currency notes. Over one-third of all paper consumed worldwide is made on Voith production lines.
As a process supplier for the worldwide paper industry, Voith has extensive experience-beginning with fiber technology, through finishing and right up to printing technology. The company develops solutions that cover the whole paper manufacturing process from the fiber to finished paper and it does this for all paper grades: graphic papers, cardboard, packaging papers, tissue papers and specialty papers as used for currency notes. Voith Paper is headquartered in Germany and operates 16 plants with over 1,700 employees in North America.
You may want to save these interesting facts about money and cash them in at your next dinner party.
If all the currency the government prints each year were laid end to end, it would stretch around the equator about 30 times.
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