U.S. Money

The Federal Reserve Bank maintains the quality and quantity of currency and coin in circulation, using state-of-the-art equipment to handle and process incoming and outgoing currency.

Each day the Minneapolis Fed processes $83 million of coin and currency (distribute $44 million, receive $39 million) and destroys about $3 million of unfit currency.

Currency

All U.S. currency is printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). The BEP prints billions of Federal Reserve notes for delivery to the Federal Reserve System each year.

New $5 bills released March 2008

The new $5 bills, which entered circulation on March 13, 2008, are safer, smarter and more secure: safer because they're harder to fake and easier to check; smarter to stay ahead of savvy counterfeiters; and more secure to protect the integrity of U.S. currency. Because security features are difficult for counterfeiters to reproduce well, they often do not try, hoping that cash handlers and the public will not check their money.

Information from BEP

• Fact Sheets: Currency & Coins
• Money Facts
• Frequently Asked Questions About United States Paper Currency
• What To Do With Shredded or Mutilated Currency

Other Resources

• Fun Cash Facts, FED101
• Know Your Money, U.S. Secret Service
• Dollars and Cents: Fundamental Facts about U.S. Currency,
  Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

U.S. Coin

The United States Mint produces all U.S. coins and distributes coins to the Federal Reserve System for circulation to financial institutions.

Mint Programs

• Presidential $1 Coins
  
  
• 50 State Quarters™ Program
  State Quarter Release Schedule
  
  
• Commemorative Coins

Fun Facts About Coins

What's a dollar worth?

Use the Minneapolis Fed's CPI calculator to find out how much the item you purchased years ago would cost in today's dollars.

Our Money

Curriculum unit on money.