View source for Bureau of Engraving and Printing

{{Organization
|OrganizationName=Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP)
|OrganizationType=Executive Departments
|Mission=The BEP designs and manufactures U.S. currency notes, serving as the primary source for paper money in the United States. It also produces security documents for government agencies and supports financial integrity through anti-counterfeiting measures.
|ParentOrganization=United States Department of the Treasury
|Employees=2000
|Budget=$800 million (Fiscal Year 2024)
|OrganizationExecutive=Director
|Services=Currency production; Security documents; Currency design; Anti-counterfeiting research
|HeadquartersLocation=38.88622, -77.03187
|HeadquartersAddress=14th Street and C Street SW, Washington, DC 20228
|Website=https://www.bep.gov
}}
{{Short description|United States government agency}}

{{Infobox government agency
|agency_name     = Bureau of Engraving and Printing
|seal            = US-BureauOfEngravingAndPrinting-Seal.svg
|seal_width      = 140px
|seal_caption    = Seal of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
|logo=Flag of the United States Department of the Treasury.png{{!}}border
|logo_caption    = [[Symbols of the United States Department of the Treasury|Flag of the U.S. Department of the Treasury]]
|formed          = {{start date and age|1862|8|29}}<ref>[http://www.treasury.gov/offices/treasurer/bep-overview.shtml Treasury.gov] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226153257/http://www.treasury.gov/offices/treasurer/bep-overview.shtml |date=December 26, 2007 }}</ref>
|headquarters    = 300 14th St SW<br>[[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
|employees       = 2,169 (2006)
|budget          =
|chief1_name     = [[Patricia "Patty" S. Collins]]
|chief1_position = [[Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing|Director]]
|parent_agency   = [[United States Department of the Treasury|Department of the Treasury]]
|website         = {{URL|https://www.bep.gov/|bep.gov}}
|footnotes       =
}}
The '''Bureau of Engraving and Printing''' ('''BEP''') is a [[government agency]] within the [[United States Department of the Treasury]] that designs and produces a variety of security products for the [[Federal Government of the United States|United States government]], most notable of which is [[Federal Reserve Note]]s (paper money) for the [[Federal Reserve]], the nation's central bank.  In addition to [[paper currency]], the BEP produces [[United States Treasury security|Treasury securities]]; [[Commission (document)#United States|military commissions]] and award certificates; invitations and admission cards; and many different types of [[identification card]]s, forms, and other special security documents for a variety of government agencies. The BEP's role as printer of paper currency makes it one of two Treasury Department agencies involved in currency production. The other is the [[United States Mint]], which mints [[coin]]age. With production facilities in [[Washington, D.C.]], and [[Fort Worth, Texas]], the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the largest producer of government security documents in the United States.

== History ==
[[File:Bureau of Engraving and Printing, aerial view - Washington, D.C..jpg|thumb|left|180px|upright|Aerial view of the BEP in [[Washington, D.C.]] {{circa|1918}}]]
[[File:United States Souvenir Card HAPEX 1970.jpg|thumb|right|180px|upright|United States Souvenir Card issued by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, for the HAPEX APS 70 exhibition and 84th Annual Convention of the American Philatelic Society in 1970]]

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has its origins in legislation enacted to help fund the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].  In July 1861, [[United States Congress|Congress]] authorized the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] to issue [[paper currency]] in lieu of [[coin]]s due to the lack of funds needed to support the conflict. The paper [[banknote|notes]] were essentially government [[promissory note|IOUs]] and were called [[Demand Note]]s because they were payable "on demand" in coin at certain Treasury facilities. At this time the government had no facility for the production of paper money so a private firm produced the Demand Notes in sheets of four. These sheets were then sent to the Treasury Department where dozens of clerks signed the notes and scores of workers cut the sheets and trimmed the notes by hand. The [[Legal tender#United States|Second Legal Tender Act]] (July 11, 1862; {{USStat|12|532}}) authorized the Treasury Secretary to engrave and print notes at the Treasury Department; the design of which incorporates fine-line engraving, intricate geometric lathe work patterns, a Treasury seal, and engraved signatures to aid in counterfeit deterrence.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Currency|url=https://www.moneyfactory.gov/uscurrency/history.html|publisher=Bureau of Engraving and Printing U.S. Department of the Treasury|access-date=March 29, 2017}}</ref>

Initially, the currency processing operations in the Treasury were not formally organized. When Congress created the [[Office of the Comptroller of the Currency|Office of Comptroller of the Currency]] and National Currency Bureau in 1863, currency-processing operations were nominally subordinated to that agency and designated the "First Division, National Currency Bureau".  For years, however, the currency operations were known by various semi-official labels, such as the "Printing Bureau", "Small Note Bureau", "Currency Department", and "Small Note Room".  It was not until 1874 that the "Bureau of Engraving and Printing" was officially recognized in congressional [[legislation]] with a specific allocation of operating funds for the fiscal year of 1875.

From almost the very beginning of its operations, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing designed and printed a variety of products in addition to currency. As early as 1864, the offices which would later become the BEP made [[United States passport|passport]]s for the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] and [[money order]]s for the [[United States Post Office Department|Post Office Department]]. Passports are now produced by the [[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Publishing Office]]. Other early items produced by the BEP included various government debt instruments, such as interest-bearing notes, refunding certificates, compound interest Treasury notes, and [[bond (finance)|bonds]]. The production of [[postage stamp]]s began in 1894, and for almost the next century the BEP was the sole producer of postage stamps in the country.

<gallery widths="180">
File:The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) in Washington, D.C.jpg|The BEP in Washington, D.C.
File:United States Bureau of Printing and Engraving - 2012-03-15.jpg|15th Street SW entrance to the BEP in Washington, D.C.
File:Bureau of Engraving and Printing, entrance - Washington, D.C..jpg|13th Street SW entrance to the BEP Annex in Washington, D.C.
File:Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Fort Worth, TX IMG 7075.JPG|The Bureau's [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]] location, with visitor tours available during business hours. 
</gallery>

== Production ==
[[File:James Garfield2 1894 Issue-6c.jpg|thumb|Garfield, Issue of 1894<br>1st postage stamp printed by BEP]]
=== Postage stamp production ===
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing officially took over production of postage stamps for the United States government in July 1894. The first of the works printed by the BEP was placed on sale on July 18, 1894, and by the end of the first year of stamp production, the BEP had printed and delivered more than 2.1&nbsp;billion stamps. The [[United States Postal Service]] switched purely to private postage stamp printers in 2005, ending 111 years of production by the Bureau.<ref>{{cite news|last=McAllister|first=Bill|title=After 111 Years, Postage Stamps Go Private|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/12/AR2005061201253.html|access-date=9 April 2012|newspaper=Washington Post|date=13 June 2005}}</ref><ref name="2005CompState-ch2p14">{{cite web|title=2005 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations|url=http://about.usps.com/strategic-planning/cs05/chp2-014.html|publisher=USPS|access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref> Starting in 2011 the United States Postal Service in-housed all postage stamp printing services.

=== Currency production ===
[[Image:Onedolar2009series.jpg|thumb|left|240px|Federal Reserve [[United States one-dollar bill|$1 note]], 2009 issue]]

Plate capacity on power presses increased from four to eight notes per sheet in 1918 in order to meet the greatly expanded production requirements related to [[World War I]].

With the redesign of [[United States note|currency]] in [[Series of 1928 (United States Currency)|1929]], the first major change since paper currency was first issued in 1861, note design was not only standardized but note size was also significantly reduced. Due to this reduction in size, the Bureau was able to convert from eight-note printing plates to twelve-note plates. The redesign effort came about for several reasons, chief among them a reduction in paper costs and improved [[counterfeit]] deterrence through better public recognition of currency features.

A further increase in the number of notes per sheet was realized in 1952 after breakthrough developments in the production of non-offset inks. Beginning in 1943, the BEP experimented with new [[ink]]s that dried faster, therefore obviating the need to place tissues between sheets to prevent ink from offsetting to other sheets. The faster drying ink also enabled printed sheets of backs to be kept damp until the faces were printed, thereby reducing distortion caused by wetting, drying, and re-wetting of the paper (sheets needed to be dampened before each printing).

[[Image:Three Consecutively Numbered Two-dollar Notes.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Three consecutive [[United States two-dollar bill|$2 notes]], 2009 issue]]
By reducing the distortion that increases proportionally with the size of the sheet of paper, the Bureau was able to convert from 12-note printing plates to plates capable of printing 18 notes in 1952. Five years later in 1957, the Bureau began printing currency via the dry [[intaglio (printmaking)|intaglio]] method that utilizes special paper and non-offset inks, enabling a further increase from 18 to 32 notes per sheet. Since 1968, all currency has been printed by means of the dry intaglio process, whereby wetting of the paper prior to printing is unnecessary. In this process, fine-line engravings are transferred to steel plates from which an impression is made on sheets of distinctive paper. Ink is applied to a plate containing 32 note impressions, which is then wiped clean, leaving ink in the engraved lines. The plate is pressed against the sheet of paper with such pressure as to actually press the paper into the lines of the plate to pick up the ink. Both faces and backs are printed in this manner&nbsp;– backs first. After the faces are printed, the sheets are then typographically overprinted with [[Seal of the United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Seals]] and [[serial number]]s.

During [[Fiscal Year]] 2013, the Bureau delivered 6.6&nbsp;billion notes at an average cost of 10 cents per note.<ref name="Bureau_cost">Bureau of Engraving and Printing. [http://www.bep.treas.gov/uscurrency/annualproductionfigures.html "Annual Production Figures"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827125657/http://www.bep.treas.gov/uscurrency/annualproductionfigures.html |date=2011-08-27 }}, referenced 2014-03-11.</ref>

== Locations ==
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has two locations: one in [[Washington, D.C.]], and another in [[Fort Worth, Texas]].

=== District of Columbia location ===
The Washington facility consists of two adjacent buildings. The elder, considered the main building and located between 14th and 15th streets SW, was constructed in 1914.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Latimer
 |first=Louise Payson
 |date=1924
 |title=Your Washington and Mine
 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.262169
 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons
 |page=162
}}</ref> The architectural style of the main building is [[neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]]. It has a steel [[superstructure]] with [[fireproof]] [[concrete]], [[Indiana limestone]], and [[granite]] trim exterior. The main façade of the building faces Raoul Wallenberg Place (15th St), the Tidal Basin, and the [[Jefferson Memorial]], with stone columns spanning the {{convert|505|ft|m|adj=on}} length of the building's front. The building is {{convert|296|ft|m}} deep and {{convert|105|ft|m}} high with four wings that extend back toward 14th Street. The building is listed on the U.S. [[National Register of Historic Places]] as [[Auditor's Building Complex]].

In May 1938, work was completed on an addition to the Washington, D.C., facility to accommodate increases in [[personnel]] and production. The annex building, as it is called, is located on 14th Street, between C and D streets SW, just opposite the main building. The building is {{convert|570|ft|m}} long, {{convert|285|ft|m}} wide, and made entirely of reinforced concrete with a limestone [[façade]]. The structure consists of a central backbone running from 14th Street to 13th Street with five wings extending north and south from the backbone.

The Washington, D.C., location offers a free 30-minute guided tour which features the various phases of currency production. Tours may be taken Monday through Friday. The Bureau is closed for all federal holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tourofdc.org/tours/BureauOfEngravingAndPrinting/|title=Washington, D.C. -- Places To Tour -- Bureau of Engraving and Printing}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yelp.com/biz/federal-bureau-of-printing-and-engraving-washington|title=Bureau of Engraving and Printing|date=8 November 2015|work=Yelp}}</ref>

{{clear}}

=== Fort Worth location ===
In 1987, construction began on a second facility in [[Fort Worth, Texas]]. In addition to meeting increased production requirements, a western location was seen to serve as a contingency operation in case of emergencies in the [[Washington Metropolitan Area|DC metropolitan area]]; additionally, costs for transporting currency to [[Federal Reserve System|Federal Reserve banks]] in [[San Francisco]], [[Dallas]], and [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]] would be reduced. Currency production began in December 1990 at the Fort Worth facility, and the official dedication took place on April 26, 1991. Any currency printed at Fort Worth includes a small "FW", usually located to the left of the bill's face plate number, and most also have larger back plate numbers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uspapermoney.info/general/note.html|title=USPaperMoney.Info: Features of Current Notes}}</ref>

=== Historic locations ===
The Bureau moved into its own building in 1880 with the completion of a facility at 14th St. and Independence Ave. SW, now the [[Sidney Yates Building]]. An addition was built on the south side of the building in 1891. The Bureau relocated to its present Washington location, just south of the original building, in 1914.

=== Future locations ===
On April 27, 2022, Maryland Governor [[Larry Hogan]] announced that the BEP would move from their historic Washington, D.C. location to [[Beltsville, Maryland|Beltsville, MD]] at the [[United States Department of Agriculture|U.S. Department of Agriculture]]'s [[Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center|Beltsville Agricultural Research Center]] (BARC). The U.S. Department of Treasury was transferred ownership of 114 acres within BARC from the Department of Agriculture for a future facility estimated to be completed in early 2027.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Governor Hogan Announces U.S. Bureau Of Engraving And Printing Moves Forward With New Production Facility In Maryland |url=https://governor.maryland.gov/2022/04/27/governor-hogan-announces-u-s-bureau-of-engraving-and-printing-moves-forward-with-new-production-facility-in-maryland/ |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=Governor of Maryland |language=en}}</ref>

== BEP Police ==
[[File:Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police.jpg|right|thumb|225px|A Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police (BEP) patrol car.]]
The Bureau operates a police department, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police Force, that protects BEP personnel and facilities. The BEP Police are responsible for enforcing federal and local laws, Treasury Department rules and regulations, Washington, DC Criminal Code through a Memorandum of Understanding, and Texas Criminal Code.<ref name="Dempsey Cook">{{cite book|last1=Dempsey |first1=John S. |last2=Forst |first2=Linda S. |title=An Introduction to Policing |year=2009 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1435480537 |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uajZhTYdmVsC&pg=PA63 }}</ref>  In 2004, 234 Police officers were employed.<ref name=prisonpolicy2006/>

== See also ==
* [[US Treasury specimen book]]
* [[Charles R. Chickering]], chief stamp designer for BEP
* [[Federal Reserve System]]
* [[Title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations]]
* [[United States Mint Police]]
* [[United States Treasury Police]]
* ''[[Who's Minding the Mint?]],'' a 1967 film with the D.C. Bureau of Engraving and Printing as its setting

== References ==
{{Reflist
|refs =
<ref name="prisonpolicy2006">
{{cite journal
| url         = https://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/bjs/fleo04.pdf
| title       = Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 2004
| publisher   = [[Bureau of Justice Statistics]]
| date        = July 2006
| first       = Brian A.
| last        = Reaves
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20200826174830/https://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/bjs/fleo04.pdf
| archive-date = 2020-08-26
| url-status  = live
}}
</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Bureau of Engraving and Printing}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://www.bep.gov/resources/productionannual.html BEP Annual Production Figures]
* [https://www.bep.gov/resources/productionmonthly.html BEP Monthly Production Figures]
* [http://www.uspapermoney.info/ BEP production figures broken down by month, as well as some other currency-related articles]

{{US Treasury agencies}}
{{Federal law enforcement agencies of the United States}}
{{US currency and coinage}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bureau Of Engraving And Printing}}
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:United States Department of the Treasury agencies|Engraving and Printing]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1862]]
[[Category:Banknote printing companies]]
[[Category:1862 establishments in the United States]]