Have you even wondered how much currency is in circulation in the United States? With millions of bills and coins trading hands each day, and much more lost and destroyed, another question to ask is how much the currency is worth. The following looks at the several interesting facts surrounding the U.S. Mint’s production of currency according to the Federal Reserve.
The Value of Paper Currency in Circulation
For starters, the ignoble $1 bill has approximately 12.4 billion bills in circulation. This compares to about 1.3 billion $2 bills in circulation, with a total value of $2.5 billion. The $5 bill has a 3.1 billion in circulation, for a total value of $15.3 billion. $10 bills have 2 billion in circulation and a total value of $20.1 billion. With 9.4 billion $20 bills in circulation, it bill claims $188.5 billion dollars’ worth in circulation. The fifty has a total value of $89.2 billion with 1.8 billion bills in circulation. The $100 bills in circulation have a total value of over $1 trillion, with 13.4 trillion in circulation. The larger bills, ranging from the $500 to $10,000 bills have varying values as they are much less common.
The Composition of Currency
Although many people refer to the U.S currency as paper, this paper is actually made of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton – meaning that no actual paper is used. The “copper” penny is composed of 2.5 percent copper and 97.5 percent zinc, although older pennies are mostly copper, making them worth more than 1 cent each. The nickel does have 25 percent nickel, but the remaining 75 percent is copper.
2009 Circulating Coin Production
From bills to coins, the U.S. Mint makes them all. In fact, the number of coins in circulation year-to-date 2019 is 3.82 billion. That breaks down to about 2.2 billion pennies, 379 million nickels, 737 million dimes, 504 million quarters, 3.4 million 50-cent coins and 2.9 million $1 coins. The number of $1 coins has taken a sharp decline over the past decade in favor of a boom in the circulation of smaller coins like pennies, nickles, and dimes.
Facts About U.S. Money
U.S. bills, of course, are printed in a variety of ways to make them counterfeit-proof. With printing facilities in Fort Worth, Texas, and Washington, D.C., over 18 tons of ink are used every day to make this happen. Money is a crucial part of the fabric of America. Whether it's paper or a linen cotton blend, there’s no escaping the critical importance of the American dollar.
