Andy bought two round trip tickets. "We can't get on until the clock displays 9:30 a.m., and we won't be able to return until the Smithsonian stop clock shows 7:00 p.m. That's the off-peak rate, so we'll be in the city all day." Standing outside to catch the morning rays, we waited the 20 minutes until 9:30. "Tomorrow we won't need to come so early," said Andy. "I thought it would take us longer to walk here."
"Just don't leave me," I warned, as we dashed up the escalator steps at 9:31 a.m.
He had planned our guided tour of all the memorials on this picture perfect day. Bundled in jackets, we kept a brisk pace in the chill air. Tours at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing offered walk-in visits during February, and a hostess passed out tickets at the gate. We joined the 10:15 a.m. group.
"I think they should give samples," said Andy, as we checked through security.
"You wish!" I agreed.
"All cell phones, cameras, bags, purses, wallets and coins in the bucket," ordered the guard. He nodded to people one at a time to pass through the body scanner, while the buckets traveled through the big x-ray machine.
"Here you can see $20.00 bills in the presses," said the guide, ushering a group of about 30 into the second-floor observation hallway. "The government no longer makes $500, $1,000, $5,000, or $10,000 bills. There is a bill for $100,00.00 used by the Federal Reserve, but it's illegal for a civilian to have it." We discussed with other tourists whose picture was on the $100,000 bill. A few wrong guesses, a couple he looks familiars, and we figured out it was President Woodrow Wilson. The tour offered all kinds of interesting tidbits as we walked the corridors, looking down on the huge presses and cutting machines:
1. Bills are changed every 7 to 10 years to discourage counterfeiting.
2. The paper, actually 75 percent cotton and 25 percent linen fiber, is manufactured in Massachusetts and may only be sold to the federal government.
3. The printing process called Intaglio prints 32 green bills on one side and 32 black bills on the other. Soon the presses will be able to accommodate 50-bill sheets. The black side has the serial number in green. If a sheet is rejected, a star follows the replacement sheet serial numbers to indicate the second printing.
4. All bills are printed at the facility in Washington, D.C. or in Fort Worth, Texas. The notes do not become money until the Federal Reserve monetizes them, and 95 percent of the bills printed replace old bills that are retired. At any one time the two facilities together can print up to 907 million in a day, and the Washington, D.C. facility can process up to 200 million at one time.
5. A brick of bills includes 4,000 notes. A cash pack includes 16,000 notes and is shrink wrapped for shipping.
We moved to the examination room. "See that lady fanning the bundle?" asked the guide. "She does that with each bundle as a final check. Her job requires two years of training. The lady looked up and waved. She held up four fingers; the wad in her other hand was $4,000.
"This concludes our tour," said the guide. "Exit through the store. there you can learn how much you are worth in bills."
We tried to remember which famous American was on each denomination: Washington ($1.00), Jefferson ($2.00), Lincoln ($5.00), Hamilton ($10.00), Jackson ($20.00), Grant ($50.00), Franklin ($100.00) and Wilson ($100,000.00). We took turns standing in front of the sign to measure how tall we were in hundred dollar bills.
"This all started with six employees, and four of them were women," I told Andy as we left. "At least that's what I read on the sign coming in. Guess women always could handle the money!"
"But I'm worth more in height," he joked, looking up over his head at the sign.
No comments:
Post a Comment