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Photos: How Dollar Bills Were Made A Century Ago

NPR | By Miki Meek
Published August 22, 2012 at 10:22 AM CDT

Every day, tens of millions of crisp, green bills roll off fast, automated presses at the U.S. Bureau of Printing and Engraving.

A hundred years ago, the process looked very, very different. Back then, it took the bureau a year to make as many bills as it can now make in two days.

These beautiful, old photographs from the Library of Congress were taken near the turn of the 20th century. They show a time when making currency was a slow, hands-on process.

Workers grind a non-removable, green ink into the right viscosity for the presses, circa 1890. Green became the standard color because it made bills harder to alter or counterfeit.
Frances Benjamin Johnston / Library of Congress
/
Library of Congress
Workers grind a non-removable, green ink into the right viscosity for the presses, circa 1890. Green became the standard color because it made bills harder to alter or counterfeit.

To make them more impressionable, sheets of fibrous paper were dampened before going to printing presses, circa 1890.
Frances Benjamin Johnston / Library of Congress
/
Library of Congress
To make them more impressionable, sheets of fibrous paper were dampened before going to printing presses, circa 1890.
In 1914, when this photo was taken, $4.5 million was dried daily in a room that hot air circulated through.
/ Gift from Herbert A. French, Library of Congress
/
Gift from Herbert A. French, Library of Congress
In 1914, when this photo was taken, $4.5 million was dried daily in a room that hot air circulated through.
Workers inspecting sheets of money for printing flaws and smudges, circa 1917. Approved sheets received serial numbers and U.S. Treasury seals.
/ Library of Congress
/
Library of Congress
Workers inspecting sheets of money for printing flaws and smudges, circa 1917. Approved sheets received serial numbers and U.S. Treasury seals.
A woman identified as "Miss Louise Lester" holds a stack of damaged bills, circa 1909. These were thrown down a chute, foreground, and recycled into paper pulp.
/ Gift from Herbert A. French, Library of Congress
/
Gift from Herbert A. French, Library of Congress
A woman identified as "Miss Louise Lester" holds a stack of damaged bills, circa 1909. These were thrown down a chute, foreground, and recycled into paper pulp.

Hear a Planet Money story about a company that has made the paper used for U.S. currency since 1879.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Miki Meek

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