For a second straight month, the US government in August printed more money for circulation than the prior month but the combined value of the notes declined.
576 million in $1s, $5s, $10s, $20s $50s and $100s were produced last month for a combined value of $8.512 billion, according to the latest monthly production figures published by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), the agency responsible for producing US currency. In contrast, July’s totals summed to 535.68 million notes worth $11.088 billion.
The types of bills printed were the same for both months. In percentages, August saw 7.5% more notes compared to July but their combined value was 23.2% lower. In other month-over-month comparisons, there were:
- 37.3% more $1s;
- 50% more $5s;
- 16.7% fewer $10s;
- 0.4% fewer $20s;
- 75.2% fewer $50s; and
- 8.3% fewer $100s
In other notables:
- In June, $2s appeared for the first time since November. Presses have been silent for them since.
- $10s appeared for a third straight month after having not been printed since February.
Here are images of the BEP reports showing the type of banknotes manufactured during the month:
August 2014 BEP Banknote Production
Facility at Washington, DC
Facility at Fort Worth, TX
Atypically, the BEP did not produce any star notes last month. Star notes are replacements for misprinted notes or certain serial numbers, like 000 000 000. Money collectors find them desirable since they are rarer, making them more difficult to find.
The following table lists the type, the amount and the total value of banknotes printed by the BEP for the month:
Banknotes by Denomination: Total Printed and Values
August 2014
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $1.00 | 224,000,000 | 224,000,000 |
| $2.00 | – | – |
| $5.00 | 115,200,000 | 576,000,000 |
| $10.00 | 32,000,000 | 320,000,000 |
| $20.00 | 153,600,000 | 3,072,000,000 |
| $50.00 | 16,000,000 | 800,000,000 |
| $100.00 | 35,200,000 | 3,520,000,000 |
| Totals | 576,000,000 | 8,512,000,000 |
As a perspective, the BEP in Fiscal Year 2013 manufactured about 26 million banknotes a day with a face value of about $1.3 billion. Approximately 6.6 billion notes went out for the year at an average cost of 10 cents per banknote. The BEP notes that more than 90% of paper notes printed each year are to replace those already in, or taken out of circulation.
For comparison, four previous monthly money production tables follow.
July 2014
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $1.00 | 163,200,000 | 163,200,000 |
| $2.00 | – | – |
| $5.00 | 76,800,000 | 384,000,000 |
| $10.00 | 38,400,000 | 384,000,000 |
| $20.00 | 154,240,000 | 3,084,800,000 |
| $50.00 | 64,640,000 | 3,232,000,000 |
| $100.00 | 38,400,000 | 3,840,000,000 |
| Totals | 535,680,000 | 11,088,000,000 |
June 2014
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $1.00 | 134,400,000 | 134,400,000 |
| $2.00 | 12,800,000 | 25,600,000 |
| $5.00 | 80,000,000 | 400,000,000 |
| $10.00 | 38,400,000 | 384,000,000 |
| $20.00 | 153,600,000 | 3,072,000,000 |
| $50.00 | 64,000,000 | 3,200,000,000 |
| $100.00 | 44,800,000 | 4,480,000,000 |
| Totals | 528,000,000 | 11,696,000,000 |
May 2014
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $1.00 | 204,800,000 | 204,800,000 |
| $2.00 | 0 | 0 |
| $5.00 | 70,720,000 | 353,600,000 |
| $10.00 | 0 | 0 |
| $20.00 | 236,800,000 | 4,736,000,000 |
| $50.00 | 60,800,000 | 3,040,000,000 |
| $100.00 | 44,800,000 | 4,480,000,000 |
| Totals | 617,920,000 | 12,814,400,000 |
April 2014
| Banknotes | Total Printed | Total Value ($) |
| $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 |
