Posted On: January 26, 2026 by Prevail Bank in: Banking / Money Management
Currency Fun Facts
Friday Fun: It’s Cloth!
----- Reprinted from the Wisconsin Bankers Daily eNewsletter 12-12-25
The term “paper money” is a misnomer. U.S. banknotes are made from a special fabric that is 75% cotton and 25% linen — an incredibly strong blend that helps bills survive accidental trips through the washing machine. The fabric contains wiry red and blue synthetic fibers disbursed randomly throughout the material that serve as a key anti-counterfeiting measure.
A single Massachusetts-based company, Crane Currency, has been the exclusive supplier of currency paper to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), and it is illegal for anyone other than the BEP to possess this specific material.
Other Fun Facts:
Per U.S. Currency Education Program
- The U.S. government periodically redesigns Federal Reserve notes to make them easier to use, but more difficult to counterfeit.
- A stack of currency one mile high would contain more than 14.5 million banknotes.
- It is estimated that between one-half to two-thirds of the value of all U.S. currency in circulation is outside of the U.S.
- In 1934, the $100,000 Gold Certificate became the highest denomination ever issued — used for official transactions between Federal Reserve Banks.
- There are 28 Federal Reserve Bank Cash Offices, and over 8,400 Financial Institutions in the United States.
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