<== Site of the Week for 2016-04-11 ==>
U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing
The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing takes orders from the Federal Reserve and prints money. The video tells us how they decide how much to print each year. It is a simple formula based on the amount of currency destroyed and growth in demand:
Blind and Visually Impaired
People who are blind or visually impaired can get a free currency reader.
Currency Production
The Annual Production Report shows the total dollars printed from 1980 to 2014. I put the data in a table and display it below:
| Currency Printed | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Ones | Twos | Fives | Tens | Twenties | Fifties | Hundreds | Dollars |
| 1980 | 1939840000 | 0 | 427520000 | 495360000 | 634880000 | 56960000 | 100480000 | $34,624,640,000 |
| 1981 | 1954560000 | 0 | 519680000 | 536320000 | 812800000 | 67200000 | 118400000 | $41,372,160,000 |
| 1982 | 2040320000 | 0 | 614400000 | 540160000 | 683520000 | 94720000 | 108800000 | $39,800,320,000 |
| 1983 | 2229760000 | 0 | 583680000 | 592640000 | 994560000 | 115200000 | 85760000 | $45,301,760,000 |
| 1984 | 2771200000 | 0 | 716800000 | 812800000 | 1292800000 | 128000000 | 137600000 | $60,499,200,000 |
| 1985 | 2851200000 | 0 | 777600000 | 784000000 | 1449600000 | 137600000 | 160000000 | $66,451,200,000 |
| 1986 | 3123200000 | 0 | 844800000 | 678000000 | 1475200000 | 182400000 | 176000000 | $70,351,200,000 |
| 1987 | 3232000000 | 0 | 780800000 | 697600000 | 1472000000 | 195200000 | 217600000 | $75,072,000,000 |
| 1988 | 2960000000 | 0 | 745600000 | 652800000 | 1350400000 | 144400000 | 160000000 | $63,444,000,000 |
| 1989 | 2860800000 | 0 | 835200000 | 771200000 | 1526400000 | 134400000 | 201600000 | $72,156,800,000 |
| 1990 | 3148800000 | 0 | 912000000 | 771200000 | 1801600000 | 128000000 | 240000000 | $81,852,800,000 |
| 1991 | 3212800000 | 0 | 979200000 | 812800000 | 1926400000 | 128000000 | 956800000 | $156,844,800,000 |
| 1992 | 4089600000 | 0 | 787200000 | 1036800000 | 1760000000 | 556800000 | 217600000 | $103,193,600,000 |
| 1993 | 3513600000 | 0 | 1126400000 | 640800000 | 2169600000 | 259200000 | 323200000 | $104,225,600,000 |
| 1994 | 4563200000 | 0 | 1004800000 | 793600000 | 2252800000 | 115200000 | 604800000 | $128,819,200,000 |
| 1995 | 4428800000 | 0 | 992000000 | 672000000 | 2476800000 | 147200000 | 595200000 | $132,524,800,000 |
| 1996 | 4166400000 | 51200000 | 1158400000 | 1011200000 | 1363200000 | 441600000 | 1251200000 | $194,636,800,000 |
| 1997 | 4646400000 | 102400000 | 896000000 | 998400000 | 1881600000 | 406400000 | 649600000 | $142,227,200,000 |
| 1998 | 3814400000 | 0 | 857600000 | 761600000 | 2278400000 | 723200000 | 764800000 | $173,926,400,000 |
| 1999 | 3539200000 | 0 | 832000000 | 614400000 | 4134400000 | 694400000 | 1542400000 | $285,491,200,000 |
| 2000 | 5190400000 | 0 | 640000000 | 492800000 | 2707200000 | 0 | 0 | $67,462,400,000 |
| 2001 | 5145600000 | 0 | 979200000 | 652800000 | 1017600000 | 0 | 201600000 | $57,081,600,000 |
| 2002 | 2880000000 | 0 | 1350400000 | 1100800000 | 1068800000 | 0 | 604800000 | $102,496,000,000 |
| 2003 | 3699200000 | 0 | 550400000 | 249600000 | 2700800000 | 102400000 | 854400000 | $153,523,200,000 |
| 2004 | 4147200000 | 121600000 | 627200000 | 403200000 | 2707200000 | 211200000 | 515200000 | $127,782,400,000 |
| 2005 | 3475200000 | 0 | 576000000 | 512000000 | 3059200000 | 345600000 | 668800000 | $156,819,200,000 |
| 2006 | 4512000000 | 230400000 | 800000000 | 851200000 | 889600000 | 0 | 950400000 | $130,316,800,000 |
| 2007 | 4147200000 | 0 | 1401600000 | 83200000 | 1971200000 | 428800000 | 1088000000 | $181,651,200,000 |
| 2008 | 3577600000 | 0 | 1203200000 | 1094400000 | 633600000 | 0 | 1209600000 | $154,169,600,000 |
| 2009 | 2636800000 | 0 | 384000000 | 345600000 | 716800000 | 371200000 | 1785600000 | $219,468,800,000 |
| 2010 | 1856000000 | 0 | 352000000 | 0 | 2265600000 | 0 | 1907200000 | $239,648,000,000 |
| 2011 | 2918400000 | 0 | 486400000 | 499200000 | 902400000 | 179200000 | 723200000 | $109,670,400,000 |
| 2012 | 2022400000 | 134400000 | 729600000 | 652800000 | 1568000000 | 246400000 | 3027200 | $56,449,920,000 |
| 2013 | 1792000000 | 0 | 480000000 | 313600000 | 518400000 | 246400000 | 4428800000 | $472,896,000,000 |
| 2014 | 2278400000 | 32000000 | 563200000 | 486400000 | 1785600000 | 220800000 | 640000000 | $120,774,400,000 |
Creating Money
The Federal Reverse actually creates money through its lending practices. The printed currency reflects demands. There was an interesting surge in c-notes printed in 2014. I suspect that was due to the new secure design of the dollar and an increase in foreign demand for hundred dollar bills.
By my calculations of inflation. A hundred dollar bill printed in 2016 has about the same purchasing power as a one dollar bill a century ago (when the Federal Reserve was created). Personally, I think Americans should start using hundred dollar bills in their day to day transactions.
