U.S. Federal Reserve banknotes - details, manufacturing, anti-counterfeiting

General Information

Name of banknotes: U.S. dollar One dollar = 100 cents
Issuing bank: U.S. Federal Reserve

The U.S. dollar is the monetary unit of the United States of America.

The current legal tender is bills of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 in various forms and years of issue (including pre-1928 coins) and coins of $1, $5, $10 (one dime), $25 (quarter dollar), $50 (half dollar), and $1.

Many types of U.S. banknotes have long been discontinued. They are gradually being withdrawn from circulation and are therefore extremely rare in circulation, but they continue to be legal tender. Such banknotes include:

• Large banknotes (188.5 x 79.5 mm) issued before 1928;
• Bank Notes (National Bank Note) issued 1863-1935;
• Gold Certificates (Gold Certificate) issued in 1863-1923;
• Treasury bills issued in 1890 and 1891;
• Federal Reserve Bank Notes (Federal Reserve Bank Note);
• National currency bills (National Currency Note);
• "HAWALL" printed banknotes;
• Federal Reserve Notes  (Federal Reserve Notes in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000, not printed since 1946.

Until recently, two other types of banknotes have been in real circulation somewhat more frequently than those listed above:

- Silver Certificates (Silver Certificate);

- United States bills (United States Note).

Silver certificates - banknotes with the Treasury stamp and blue serial numbers - began to be issued in 1878, the last of which was the 1957 series. The introduction of this type of banknote into circulation was discontinued on June 24, 1968.

United States banknotes have the Treasury seal and red serial numbers. They were issued from 1862 to 1966 in denominations of $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1,000. In September 1994 a decision was made to stop re-issuing this type of banknote into circulation after they had fallen into the hands of the Federal Reserve System.

The bulk of U.S. cash circulation is currently made up of Federal Reserve banknotes (more than 99% of the money supply). The average circulation time of banknotes of different denominations is not equal: for $100 bills it is 9 years; $50 - 5-9 years; $20 - 2-4 years; $10 - 1.5-3 years; $1 and $5 - 1.5 years. Therefore, small denomination banknotes of the early series are very rare.

Federal Reserve banknotes are sent into circulation through 12 Federal Reserve Banks and their branches located in 12 Federal Reserve Districts. Each Federal Reserve District is assigned its own letter of the alphabet and number. The Federal Reserve Banks are located in cities:

- Boston	- А	1
- New York	- В	2
- Philadelphia	- С	3
- Cleveland	- D	4
- Richmond	- Е	5
- Atlanta	- F	6
- Chicago	- G	7
- St. Louis	- Н	8
- Minneapolis	- I	9
- Kansas City	- J	10
- Dallas -	- К	11
-San Francisco	- L	12

The U.S. dollar is also legal tender:

- in countries that are U.S. possessions: American Samoa, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Guam, Puerto Rico, Wake;

- in countries that do not have their own currency: Virgin Islands (UK), Marshall Islands, Palau, Panama, Northern Mariana Islands, Turks and Caicos (UK), Federated States of Micronesia,

- and is also freely accepted for payment in the states of: Argentina, Bermuda (UK), Eastern Caribbean States (Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Cook Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, Cayman Islands (UK), Ecuador, El Salvador, Gambia, Haiti, Laos, Liberia, Mozambique, and the Cook Islands.

 

 

Details of the US banknotes of the series 1928-1995

1.The name of the Federal Reserve Bank - on the rim of the seal in black

2.The letter of the Federal Reserve District - in the center of the seal is black (on the 1928 series money notes of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 and the 1928A series of $5, $10, $20, $50 money notes the number - not the letter - of the Federal Reserve District is in the center of the seal with the name of the Federal Reserve Bank)

3.Letter of the Federal Reserve District - at the beginning of the serial number of the banknote

4. Letter suffix of the numbering lot in the production of banknotes - at the end of the serial number

5.The Federal Reserve District number at the top and bottom right and left edges of the bill

6.Number of the printing plate on the front side of the banknote

7.Number of the printing plate on the reverse side of the banknote

8. Check mark of the quadrant of the front side of the banknote

9. Number of the quadrant of the front side of the banknote

 

Details of US banknotes of the series 1996-1999

 

1. A seal representing the entire Federal Reserve System

2. The letter and number of the Federal Reserve District - below the serial number at the left edge of the banknote

3. Letter of the Federal Reserve District - in second place in the two-letter series designation before each banknote serial number

4. Letter suffix of the numbering lot in the production of banknotes - at the end of the serial number

5. Number of the banknote's front side printing plate Number of the banknote's back side printing plate

6. Check digit of the quadrant of the banknote's obverse printed form Number of the quadrant of the banknote's obverse printed form

 

Treasury seal

1963

 

1969

 

 

Making US banknotes

The banknotes are numbered in batches of 100,000,000. Each batch has a different (identical) suffix letter (from A to Z excluding O) at the end of the number. Since an eight-digit number results in 99 999 999 banknotes, one more banknote with a number ending with an asterisk instead of a letter is added to the lot. The same banknotes with an asterisk are used to replace defective banknotes detected during the final inspection. The year of issue of the series (e.g. series 1988) indicated on the front side indicates the year when that particular banknote pattern was first used.

Although the images on the face and back of one denomination of banknotes remained essentially unchanged from 1928 to 1995, some even clearly visible differences do exist. For example, in the 1928, 1934, 1950, and 1963 series, the contents and placement of the payment text changed; from the 1950 series, the size of the Federal Reserve Bank seal, the U.S. Treasury seal, and the dignity designation located in the same place were reduced, the Federal Reserve Bank seal had a notched rim; in the 1963 series, "IN GOD WE TRUST" was added to the reverse side of Federal Reserve bills, and from the 1969 series, the U.S. Treasury seal was changed.

There are also less noticeable differences. For example, the Federal Reserve $5 bills series 1928 - 1950 and 1963 - 1993 have different guilloche patterns in the lower corners of the front side, the $10 bills 1928 - 1950 and 1963 - 1995 series have differences in the guilloche patterns of the side sections of the back side frame. If minor changes are made to the design that do not require a complete rework of the printing form (for example, only the signatures of the Secretary of the Treasury or the Treasurer of the United States are changed), the year of the series remains unchanged and a letter is added to it (for example, series 1988A). The first change is followed by an "A," the next by a "B," and so on.

Prior to 1991, all banknotes were printed in Washington, D.C., with the inscription "Washington, D.C." on the front.

In April 1991, a second facility was opened in Fort Worth, Texas. Banknotes printed at this facility remain marked "Washington, D.C." and additionally have the designation "FW" in front of the control line at the right edge. Since 1992, some of the Federal Reserve's $1 bills of the 1988-1999 series have been produced on higher-performance roller-type printing presses. On the front side of such banknotes, the check digit and the quadrant number are missing at the left edge, the check digit in front of the cliche number is missing at the right edge, and the cliche number is above the "E" of "ONE" on the reverse side.

 

Security features of US banknotes

One of the security features are fragments of guilloché patterns made by metallographic printing and containing very small elongated black (on the front side) or dark green (on the back side) elements. The form and arrangement of these elements does not change for the particular denomination and series (or several series).

In counterfeit banknotes such small elements are either absent or have a different (usually more rounded) shape or a different mutual arrangement from the genuine one.

The use of guilloche patterns to determine the authenticity of banknotes seems appropriate for several reasons:

-    First, the patterns shown (and similar in size and shape elements) on all known varieties of counterfeit banknotes (except for "super fakes") are not reproduced, while the micro texts are sometimes reproduced with very high quality even on middle class counterfeit banknotes;

-    Secondly, such patterns can be used to determine the authenticity of banknotes of the 1988 series and earlier, on which micro texts are absent;

-    Third, the analysis of the images in the areas shown allows the personnel, who do not have enough experience to determine the authenticity of a banknote by its general appearance or the artistic perception of the portrait, to make correct decisions (in contrast to the usually given unspecific information about "blurred and broken lines").

In 1996, the U.S. Federal Reserve put into circulation a new series of banknotes with a slightly modified design and enhanced security features against counterfeiting. The first bills in this series were issued in denominations of $20, $50 and $100. Since 1999, in connection with a change of the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury, modified banknotes of the above denominations are issued, on which the signature of the Secretary, the first letter of the serial numbers and the year in the series designation - 1999, and $1, $5 and $10 banknotes of the 1999 series have been changed.

 

New means of protection against counterfeiting banknotes are described on the example of the banknote of 20 dollars

 

The portrait on the banknotes of the new series is larger and has more fine details, which makes the task of reproducing the banknotes more difficult; the position of the portrait has been changed: it is offset relative to the center and, therefore, less prone to abrasion.

Introduced a watermark (1), repeating the portrait on the front side of the banknote.

The security thread (2), which is a transparent polymeric strip with metallized text ("USA", denomination) and a micro-image of the flag with the denomination - in upright and inverted versions, is located in the thickness of the paper. The security thread for each denomination has its own location and luminesces with its own unique light when exposed to UV light:

-   on the $5 bill is to the left of the portrait, luminescent with blue light;

-   on the $10 bill is to the right of the portrait, luminescent with orange light;

-   on the $20 bill is to the left of the portrait, luminescent green;

-   on the $50 bill is to the right of the portrait, luminescent yellow light;

-   on the $100 bill is to the left of the portrait, luminescent with pink light.

The front and back sides of the banknote have a micro-image (3) as the background of the main image, which has anti-scanner properties.

Microprints (4) on the denominations of $10, $20 and $100 are located in the numerals in the lower left corner of the front side; on the $5 and $50 banknotes - in the vertical frames on the edges of the banknote. Microprint is used in the design of the portrait on all denominations of banknotes.

For the image of denominations located in the lower right corner of the front side of the banknotes, a color variable paint (5) is used, and when the angle of illumination changes the image of the denomination changes its color from green to black.

For the visually impaired used increased relief denomination (6) - in the lower right corner on the reverse side of the banknote.

Infrared-metering inks are used when printing banknotes of the series: the infrared contrast and infrared non-contrast areas on the reverse side of the banknotes appear in infrared light - the location of these areas is individual for each denomination.

The new paper has a different structure when viewed under transmitted light from the paper of the 1996 series of banknotes. The cells of the reticular structure of the new paper are situated at an angle to the sides of the banknote as opposed to the paper of previous issues which has a reticular structure parallel to the sides of the banknote.

The U.S. Federal Reserve issued $100 bills of the 2001 series. The front side of the bills has the following changes: the year of the series (1), the signatures of the Treasurer (2) and Treasury Secretary (3), and the first letter of the serial number (4). All other images on the obverse and reverse sides are the same as those of the 1996 and 1999 series banknotes.

The security elements and their features have not changed as compared to the 1999 series of banknotes.

 

The basis of money circulation in the United States as of May 2002.

All past and present U.S. banknotes are legal tender. The following limitations, however, are possible:

-    transactions with banknotes of certain varieties or denominations are prohibited in your country;

-    Your bank does not communicate directly with the U.S. government financial authorities, but rather through intermediary organizations (correspondent banks), which do not conduct transactions with banknotes of particular varieties or denominations. The most common banknotes in circulation are Federal Reserve Notes, listed below, which are generally accepted for payment without exception (for the sake of brevity, the years of the series are shown without letters).

Dignity	Storyline front side back side	Dimensions, mm	Years of production series
1	Portrait of George the Great Seal of Washington of the United States	156x66	1963,1969,1974, 1977, 1981, 1985, 1988,1993, 1995, 1999
2	Portrait of Thomas Signing of the Jefferson Declaration of Independence	156x66	1976,1995
5	Portrait of Abraham Lincoln Lincoln Memorial	156x66	1928, 1934, 1950, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1977,1981,1985, 1988, 1993, 1995, 1999
10	Portrait of Alexander Hamilton U.S. Treasury	156x66	1928, 1934, 1950, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1981,1985,1988,1990,1993,1995,1999
20	Portrait of Andrew Jackson White House	156x66	1928, 1934, 1950, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1977,1981,1985,1988,1990,1993,1995, 1996,1999
50	Portrait of Ulysses Capitol Simpson Grant	156x66	1928, 1934, 1950, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1981,1985,1988,1990,1993, 1996, 1999
100	Portrait of Benjamin Franklin Palace of Independence	156x66	1928, 1934, 1950, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001