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Cash payments: Federal Reserve notes and coins
· Asset or instrument
Fact, law or dataA rule, statute, definition or measured number.
Paper Federal Reserve notes and Treasury coins: paid hand to hand, final on the spot, anonymous, and needing no bank or network.
See it on the Money & Finance map →How it works
Notes are liabilities of the Fed; coins come from the Treasury's Mint. Banks order cash from Reserve Banks, paying from their reserve accounts, and customers withdraw it. About $2.4 trillion was in circulation in late 2025, mostly $100 bills by value, and Fed researchers estimate roughly half is held abroad. Cash made up 14% of US consumer payments by count in 2024. It costs the payer nothing and cannot be reversed, but merchants bear handling, theft and counterfeit costs.
Why it matters
It still works in outages and keeps privacy, which is also why large cash sums trigger reporting rules.
Facts, rules and data
Fed currency-in-circulation data, the Fed's Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, 31 U.S.C. 5103 on legal tender, and Fed research estimating how many dollars are held overseas.
Debates and risks
Whether stores must take cash: federal 'legal tender' status covers debts, not sales, so some states and cities require acceptance and others do not.
Connections (2)
▸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.
▸Cash payments: Federal Reserve notes and coins over $10,000 trigger reports under Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering rulesFact, law or data
The connection
Banks must file a Currency Transaction Report for cash deposits or withdrawals over $10,000 in a day, adding up multiple transactions. Businesses, such as a landlord paid rent in cash, file IRS Form 8300 when they receive over $10,000. Splitting deposits to dodge the threshold, called structuring, is itself a crime even if the money is clean.
When and why
Set by the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, with the structuring offense added in 1986; FinCEN collects millions of currency transaction reports from US banks each year.
How we know
31 U.S.C. 5313 and 5324, FinCEN regulations and filing statistics, IRS Form 8300 instructions, and structuring prosecutions and civil forfeitures.
Debates and risks
The $10,000 line has not been indexed for inflation since 1970; whether to raise it, or lower it in hot spots as a 2025 FinCEN order did for some border ZIP codes, is debated.