Intaglio Printing The Bureau prints currency on high-speed, sheet-fed rotary presses which are capable of printing over 8,000 sheets per hour. Printing plates are covered with ink and then the surface of each plate is wiped clean which allows the ink to remain in the design and letter grooves of the plates. Each sheet is then forced, under extremely heavy pressure (estimated at 20 tons), into the finely recessed lines of the printing plate to pick up the ink. The printing impression is three dimensional in effect and requires the combined handiwork of highly skilled artists, steel engravers, and plate printers. The surface of the note feels slightly raised, while the reverse side feels slightly indented. This process is called intaglio printing. $2 Note Fact Sheet The $2 denomination enjoys a rich tradition in American history. It first originated on June 25, 1776, when the Continental Congress authorized issuance of $2 denominations in "bills of credit for the defense of America." Under this authority, 49,000 bills of the $2 denomination were issued. In 1928, the present size U.S. Note with the portrait of Thomas Jefferson, third U.S. President and author of the Declaration of Independence, was issued. The Series 1963A note bore Jefferson on its face and Monticello on the reverse. The Series 1976 note features a portrait of Thomas Jefferson painted in the early 1800's by Gilbert Stuart and the back design is a vignette based on an engraved reduction of the painting, "The Signing of the Declaration of Independence," by John Trumbull. The Series 1976 note was printed to celebrate the U.S. Bicentennial - 590,720,000 Series 1976 $2 notes were printed. On September 12, 1996, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin was presented with a new series $2 bill. The 1995 series notes were printed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing¹s Western Currency Facility and bear the seal of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. These notes carry the signatures of Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin and U.S. Treasurer Mary Ellen Withrow.
 
Vignette on the Reverse of the $5 Note

The vignette on the reverse of the five-dollar note depicts a likeness of the face of the Lincoln Memorial as it appeared in 1922 when it was first dedicated. At that time, there were only 48 states that made up the United States of America. The names of 26 states were engraved on the front of the Memorial. This is why only the names of 26 states appear in the vignette on the reverse of the five-dollar note. In the upper frieze of the façade in the vignette the states are from left to right: Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, and North Dakota. In the lower frieze from left to right the names of the states are: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia and New York.
Autos on the Back of $10 Notes

The engraved die of the Treasury Building vignette was completed in the early part of December 1927. The engraver was Louis S. Schofield. There are four cars included in this vignette. These cars are of no specific make or model and each one is a creation of the designer who prepared the original model which was later used by Mr. Schofield when he made the original hand-engraved die of this vignette.

It would not be possible to have specific makes of automobiles engraved on the Treasury vignette for the $10 bill, which would be a composite model, without making it appear that we were sponsoring the product of one or another automobile manufacturer. Legal requirements will not permit a government agency to indicate its endorsement of a commercial firm or product. The four automobiles engraved into this design are similar in appearance to various models of cars being manufactured at that time. However, again, the cars in the design are of no specific make or model.
$100 Note Fact Sheet

The vignette on the back of the $100 note is Independence Hall in Philadelphia. There are three people depicted in the engraving. Two (a man and a woman) are in front of the hall close to the building; the third person is a man pictured looking toward the building. There is no record that the man and woman are embracing.

The hands of the clock are set at approximately 4:10. Although the time is not readily identifiable to the naked eye, it may be verified if examined under twenty-fold magnification. There are no records explaining why that particular time was chosen.

As of May 31, 2003, of the $659,160,111,810 in total currency in worldwide circulation, $469,345,519,400 is in the $100 denomination.
 
In God We Trust

The use of the national motto on both U.S. coins and currency notes is required by two statutes, 31 U.S.C. 5112(d) (1) and 5114(b), respectively. The motto was not adopted for use on U.S. paper currency until 1957. It first appeared on the 1935G Series $1 Silver Certificate, but didn't appear on U.S. Federal Reserve Notes until the Series 1963 currency. This use of the national motto has been challenged in court many times over the years that it has been in use, and has been consistently upheld by the various courts of this country, including the U.S. Supreme Court as recently as 1977.

The Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice intend to actively defend against challenges to the use of the national motto. In 1992, a challenge was filed and successfully defeated in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
History of 'In God We Trust' Source: US Treasury

The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, and read:

Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.
One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.

You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.

This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.

To you first I address a subject that must be agitated.

As a result, Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861:
Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.
You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.

It was found that the Act of Congress dated January 18, 1837, prescribed the mottoes and devices that should be placed upon the coins of the United States. This meant that the mint could make no changes without the enactment of additional legislation by the Congress. In December 1863, the Director of the Mint submitted designs for new one-cent coin, two-cent coin, and three-cent coin to Secretary Chase for approval. He proposed that upon the designs either OUR COUNTRY; OUR GOD or GOD, OUR TRUST should appear as a motto on the coins. In a letter to the Mint Director on December 9, 1863, Secretary Chase stated:
I approve your mottoes, only suggesting that on that with the Washington obverse the motto should begin with the word OUR, so as to read OUR GOD AND OUR COUNTRY. And on that with the shield, it should be changed so as to read: IN GOD WE TRUST.
The Congress passed the Act of April 22, 1864. This legislation changed the composition of the one-cent coin and authorized the minting of the two-cent coin. The Mint Director was directed to develop the designs for these coins for final approval of the Secretary. IN GOD WE TRUST first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin.

Another Act of Congress passed on March 3, 1865. It allowed the Mint Director, with the Secretary's approval, to place the motto on all gold and silver coins that "shall admit the inscription thereon." Under the Act, the motto was placed on the gold double-eagle coin, the gold eagle coin, and the gold half-eagle coin. It was also placed on the silver dollar coin, the half-dollar coin and the quarter-dollar coin, and on the nickel three-cent coin beginning in 1866. Later, Congress passed the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873. It also said that the Secretary "may cause the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to be inscribed on such coins as shall admit of such motto."

The use of IN GOD WE TRUST has not been uninterrupted. The motto disappeared from the five-cent coin in 1883, and did not reappear until production of the Jefferson nickel began in 1938. Since 1938, all United States coins bear the inscription. Later, the motto was found missing from the new design of the double-eagle gold coin and the eagle gold coin shortly after they appeared in 1907. In response to a general demand, Congress ordered it restored, and the Act of May 18, 1908, made it mandatory on all coins upon which it had previously appeared. IN GOD WE TRUST was not mandatory on the one-cent coin and five-cent coin. It could be placed on them by the Secretary or the Mint Director with the Secretary's approval.

The motto has been in continuous use on the one-cent coin since 1909, and on the ten-cent coin since 1916. It also has appeared on all gold coins and silver dollar coins, half-dollar coins, and quarter-dollar coins struck since July 1, 1908.

A law passed by the 84th Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved by the President on July 30, 1956, the President approved a Joint Resolution of the 84th Congress, declaring IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the United States. IN GOD WE TRUST was first used on paper money in 1957, when it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate. The first paper currency bearing the motto entered circulation on October 1, 1957. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) was converting to the dry intaglio printing process. During this conversion, it gradually included IN GOD WE TRUST in the back design of all classes and denominations of currency.

As a part of a comprehensive modernization program the BEP successfully developed and installed new high-speed rotary intaglio printing presses in 1957. These allowed BEP to print currency by the dry intaglio process, 32 notes to the sheet. One-dollar silver certificates were the first denomination printed on the new high-speed presses. They included IN GOD WE TRUST as part of the reverse design as BEP adopted new dies according to the law. The motto also appeared on one-dollar silver certificates of the 1957-A and 1957-B series.

BEP prints United States paper currency by an intaglio process from engraved plates. It was necessary, therefore, to engrave the motto into the printing plates as a part of the basic engraved design to give it the prominence it deserved.

One-dollar silver certificates series 1935, 1935-A, 1935-B, 1935-C, 1935-D, 1935-E, 1935-F, 1935-G, and 1935-H were all printed on the older flat-bed presses by the wet intaglio process. P.L. 84-140 recognized that an enormous expense would be associated with immediately replacing the costly printing plates. The law allowed BEP to gradually convert to the inclusion of IN GOD WE TRUST on the currency. Accordingly, the motto is not found on series 1935-E and 1935-F one-dollar notes. By September 1961, IN GOD WE TRUST had been added to the back design of the Series 1935-G notes. Some early printings of this series do not bear the motto. IN GOD WE TRUST appears on all series 1935-H one-dollar silver certificates.
 
The Great Seal of the United States

The Great Seal was first used on the reverse of the $1 Silver Certificate in 1935. The Department of State is official keeper of the Seal. Symbolically, the seal reflects the beliefs and values that the Founding Fathers attached to the new nation and wished to pass on to their descendants. Charles Thompson (Secretary of Congress - 1782) explained the obverse side of the seal this way: The red and white stripes of the shield "represent the several states...supporting a [blue] Chief which unites the whole and represents Congress." The colors are adopted from the American flag: "White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valor, and Blue, the colour of the Chief, signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice." The shield, or escutcheon, is "born on the breast of an American Eagle without any other supporters to denote that the United States of America ought to rely on their own Virtue."

The number 13, denoting the 13 original States, is represented in the bundle of arrows, the stripes of the shield, and the stars of the constellation. The olive branch and the arrows "denote the power of peace and war." The constellation of stars symbolizes a new nation taking its place among other sovereign states. The motto E Pluribus Unum, emblazoned across the scroll and clenched in the eagle's beak, expresses the union of the 13 States. Recent scholarship has pointed out the probable source of this motto: Gentleman's Magazine, published in London from 1732 to 1922, was widely read by the educated in the American Colonies. Its title page carried that same motto and it is quite possible that it influenced the creators of the seal.

The reverse, sometimes referred to as the spiritual side of the seal, contains the 13-step pyramid with the year 1776 in Roman numerals on the base. At the summit of the pyramid is the Eye of Providence in a triangle surrounded by a Glory (rays of light) and above it appears the motto Annuit Coeptis, or "He (God) has favored our undertakings." Along the lower circumference of the design appear the words Novus Ordo Seclorum, or "A new order of the ages," heralding the beginning of the new American era in 1776.
 
 
The Production Process

Engraving Production of United States paper currency is not an easy or simple task, but one that involves over 65 separate and distinct steps in the production process. Money begins with the hand-engraved piece of soft steel, known as a master-die. Separate portions of the design, such as the portrait, the vignette, the ornamentation, and the lettering are hand-cut by the engravers. If you look closely at a currency note, you will notice that the portrait consists of numerous fine lines, dots and dashes which vary y in size and shape. The magnificent artistry and skill of the engraver bring the portrait to life. The process of engraving is the first step in a unique printing technique known as intaglio printing.

Siderography

In simplest terms, siderography is the means by which multiple images of the hand-engraved die are transferred to a printing plate. The original dies are stored and transferred to a printing plate. The original dies are stored and if necessary may be used again and again. For example, the Lincoln portrait on the five dollar note was originally engraved in 1869, but can still be used today in the production of a five dollar note.

Plate Making

The master die is subjected to tremendous pressure, heated and an impression of the die is taken. An alto and/or relief (a raised image of the die) is cast in plastic. Multiple plastic images of the various components (such as the decorative scrollwork) of the note are made, fitted and welded into the necessary plate configuration consisting of thirty-two notes. Plastic altos are placed in an electrolytic tank and are used to produce a series of plates, which are then cleaned, polished, and carefully inspected by an engraver. If the plates pass the scrutiny of the engraver, the final chromium coated basso (recessed image) plate is made and another multiple subject intaglio plate is ready to place on the printing press.

Printing

The Bureau prints currency on high-speed, sheet-fed rotary presses, which are capable of printing over 8,000 sheets per hour. Each sheet is forced, under extremely heavy pressure (estimated at 20 tons), into the finely recessed lines of the plate to pick up the ink. The printing impression is three dimensional in effect and requires the combined handiwork of highly skilled artists, bank note engravers, and plate printers. The surface of the note feels slightly raised, while the reverse side feels slightly indented. The backs of the notes are printed with green ink, allowed to dry for 24 to 48 hours. The faces are then printed with black ink and also allowed to dry.

Examining

Each stack of 32-subject sheets is cut in half and each side is examined for defects. If the sheet meets the examiner's inspection standards, it is then ready for numbering and processing on the Bureau's overprinting and processing equipment.

Overprinting

A letterpress overprints with black ink the Federal Reserve District seal and its corresponding number designation. It then overprints the Treasury seal and serial numbers in green ink. Two guillotine cutters slice the notes into two note units (100 sheets at a time) and finally into single stacks of one-hundred notes. The units of 100 notes are banded and packaged into "bricks" containing 40 units; each "brick" contains 4,000 notes. The bricks are distributed to one of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts, which issue the notes to local banks. If a finished note is found to be imperfect after it has been overprinted, it is replaced with a "star note". In design, star notes are exactly like the notes they replace, but they can carry an independent series of serial numbers. The star appears after the serial number in place of the suffix letter on Federal Reserve notes. The serial number of the imperfect note is not used again in the same number sequence.

Portraits and Designs on U.S. Currency

The design features on our currency have historical and idealistic significance, but may not include the likeness of a living person, and do not have sectarian significance. The design of paper currency, as well as the material used in its production, is determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Source for most of the content on this page: US Secret Service