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Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the US Mint
Mint 1792; BEP 1862· Institution or agency
Fact, law or dataA rule, statute, definition or measured number.
The two Treasury bureaus that physically make US money: the Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints paper notes, and the Mint strikes coins.
See it on the Money & Finance map →How it works
The Mint was founded by the Coinage Act of April 1792 in Philadelphia and strikes circulating coins there and in Denver; San Francisco and West Point make mostly collector and bullion coins. The BEP began in 1862 trimming Civil War notes in a Treasury attic and now prints Federal Reserve notes in Washington and Fort Worth. The Fed, not Congress, decides how much cash to order and pays for it. The last circulating penny was struck in November 2025; each cost about 3.7 cents.
Why it matters
They make the physical cash, over $2.3 trillion outstanding, but they do not set the money supply. Most money is bank deposits, created when banks lend.
Facts, rules and data
The Coinage Act of 1792; Mint and BEP annual reports; the Fed's yearly currency budget and print orders. The Mint also sells American Eagle bullion coins through dealers, one way individuals buy gold.
Debates and risks
Whether the nickel, which costs nearly three times its face value to make, will follow the penny, and how fast cash use will shrink as payments go digital.
Connections (5)
▸Legal tender laws and Civil War greenbacks created the 1862 paper-money arm of Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the US MintFact, law or data
The connection
The 1862 Legal Tender Act authorized $150 million in paper 'greenbacks' to pay for the Civil War. Private bank-note companies printed the sheets, and Treasury staff began trimming and sealing them, then printing in-house. That operation became the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the paper-money half of today's pairing; the Mint was already 70 years old.
When and why
Washington, D.C., August 1862: Spencer Clark and a handful of workers in the Treasury building's attic, under Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase and President Lincoln.
How we know
BEP records date the bureau to August 29, 1862; the Legal Tender Act of February 25, 1862 is the statute that created the notes.
Debates and risks
Whether greenbacks were constitutional split the Supreme Court: it ruled them invalid for older debts in 1870, then upheld them in 1871 and 1884.
▸Coinage, beginning with Lydia's coins about 630 BC began the tradition continued by Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the US MintFact, law or data
The connection
Lydia's stamped metal pieces introduced the idea that an authority guarantees a coin's weight and purity. The US Mint inherited that tradition: the 1792 Coinage Act set a decimal dollar modeled on the Spanish silver dollar and made coin-making a federal job, as the Constitution bars states from coining money.
When and why
Lydia, in western Turkey, about 630 BC; Philadelphia, 1792, when the Mint opened under director David Rittenhouse and struck its first coins.
How we know
Lydian electrum coins found at Ephesus and Sardis; the Coinage Act of April 2, 1792; Mint records of the first 1792 half dismes and 1793 cents.
Debates and risks
A popular story says the first half dismes used George Washington's household silver, probably a legend. Some scholars think Ionian Greek cities coined as early as Lydia.
▸US Department of the Treasury runs Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the US MintFact, law or data
The connection
Both are Treasury bureaus. The Mint makes coins and sells them to the Federal Reserve at face value; the gap between face value and cost, called seigniorage, goes to the Treasury. The BEP prints the notes the Fed orders and is reimbursed by the Fed. Every note bears the signatures of the Treasury Secretary and the US Treasurer.
When and why
The Mint since 1792, made a Treasury bureau by the Coinage Act of 1873; the BEP since 1862, printing in Washington, D.C. and Fort Worth, Texas.
How we know
Mint and BEP annual reports and audited financial statements; the Fed's yearly currency budget sets the print order.
Debates and risks
Whether to replace the $1 bill with a longer-lasting $1 coin, which GAO estimated would save billions of dollars over 30 years, keeps resurfacing; Congress has never retired the note.
▸Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the US Mint make the cash counted in M0, the monetary base: currency plus bank reservesFact, law or data
The connection
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints Federal Reserve notes to the Fed's order, and the Mint strikes coins. When banks need cash, the Fed ships currency and debits their reserves, so currency is the part of the base the public can hold. About $2.4 trillion circulates.
When and why
The Mint was founded in Philadelphia in 1792; the BEP dates from 1862 and prints in Washington, DC and Fort Worth, Texas.
How we know
The Fed's annual currency budget and print order, published each year, and BEP production reports.
Debates and risks
Cash use for payments is falling, yet currency outstanding keeps growing, much of it $100 bills held abroad; the overseas share is only an estimate.
▸Cash payments: Federal Reserve notes and coins are printed and minted by Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the US MintFact, law or data
The connection
Each year the Fed estimates cash demand and places a print order with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, paying the production cost; the Mint sells coins to the Reserve Banks at face value. Reserve Banks ship cash to banks, which pay from their reserve accounts. Treasury keeps the gap between a coin's face value and its cost, called seigniorage.
When and why
Notes are printed in Washington and Fort Worth, coins struck in Philadelphia and Denver; the Fed sets its note print order with the Bureau every fiscal year.
How we know
The Fed publishes its annual currency print order and budget; the Mint's annual reports show coin shipments, unit costs and seigniorage.
Debates and risks
How long cash demand holds up as card use grows, given rising demand for $100 bills abroad, and whether the nickel, which costs more than five cents, should follow the penny.