Students and faculty from Northern Virginia recently toured the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C. This agency is the nation’s sole producer of U.S. paper currency.
The BEP also advises other federal agencies on document security matters and also produces engraved documents such as military commissions and award certificates, and special security documents for a variety of government agencies.
Below, LCI students share their impressions of their tour.
On last Friday me and my friend went to Bureau of Engraving & Printing which known as BEP. The BEP is a federal government organization and agency to designs and produces the paper dollars. The place located in the heart of the Washington DC, the capital city. We start by lined up at the tour entrance and waited for our tour guide direction to enter the building and we were required to pass through a security screening. Our tour started inside the building by following our guide direction. She starts to explained how they produces money every day. She showed us the whole prosses of making the money from the beginning until the money be ready to send to the American banks. Also, we learned how to know if the money is a fake or a real money by ourselves. In the end of the trip we went to the souvenir shop which was down stares to buy some souvenirs to remember this trip forever. The interesting one was we can buy a fake big sheet of dollars! We really enjoyed in this trip and it was my first time to visit the money industry and I really recommend it for everyone.
— Hailah bin Funtukh
Our Field Trip to The Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Who hates Trips? No one.. agree?! fortunately, we go every English course on Virginia Tech English and cultural Institute to a field trip. This course Full 1 we went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. I saw something I never saw it before.
The trip gaud told us about the money industry in the US, which are only two the one on D.C and the second one in Texas. She gave us the different between the money that made here and money that made on Texas. Then she explained the signs for the real currency and how we can we realize the fake one.
I was happy when I saw the process to make the money. It is a long process, first they print the background for the currency. There are a lot of labors who were watching this process to guaranty that every thing is going well. Unfortunately, we couldn’t touch the currency or see it closely, but still that feeling of the money is so close to me and I’m inside the money factory make me feel a bit satisfy. Specially, the accumulate money it equivalate 6000000$ this view made my Epinephrine higher, and my heart bits faster. It was kind of torture ourselves that’s why it was a special field trip different from usual.
With all this feeling a find out how much is this process difficult and takes time. The money comes easily for us, and we spend it on hours or minutes some times. In that small hall I promised myself to save my money, I really had this strong feeling for the money. I felt more respectful for it, and I want change my habit with spend it without thinking triple of times.
To remember this feeling and this decision I bought a mug and two pens 😊
— Hind AlKhoraisi
Field Trip to BEP
They say you learn a new thing every day and I learned that another word for money is currency. The factory works 24 hours five days a week and they print approximately 1.6 million dollars a day. The bills we use today have three layers of paint to make it hard to copy. They actually change the design every seven years for security issues. The new printed money is sent to the Federal Reserve where they replace damaged money with new ones.
In the end, it was fun to see money printed and how it is made. I never imagined that printing money would take a lot of machinery and process. We are usually good at spending money I do not think we ever thot of how it is made. But who does not love money maybe we can all agree on that.
— Omar Alghonaim
Bureau of Engraving and Printing founded in 1862 and it has two locations one in Washington DC and the other one is in Forth Worth, Texas. The tour took around 40 minutes, it started with an introductory film that shows you the function of Bureau. After that, we walked in a tight hall with large glasses windows were the money machines and people making money. Finally, ther was a small gift shop for souvenir.
— Sarah AlBassam
The trip was held on the 4th of October 2019, we went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. It was quite an interesting trip, we learned new things about how the money is made and all the processes.
First, there are two places where the currency is printing. One here in the capital, and the second one in Texas. We learned how to know where the money came. If we find in the 5 dollars in the bottom right a letter that means it made in the capital, but if we find 3 letters that means it was printed in Texas.
Second, there are a couple of colors they are used in currency. The colors are green, blue, and yellow. Also, the currency is made of cotton and linen. They are made of a couple of layers.
Finally, after the money is made they send it to the federal government and from there they distributed it to the banks. the trip was fun and we learned new things and saw how the powerful dollars are made.
— Sufana Naji
