The Bureau of Engraving and Printing continued to research and improve its technology through 2013, to produce highly-sophisticated Federal Reserve notes, according to the BEP’s Chief Financial Officer Performance and Accounting Report for Fiscal Year 2013. 

The BEP’s Fiscal Year 2013 covered Oct. 1, 2012, to Sept. 30, 2013. 

During that time, the BEP completed final testing and production of the Series 2009A $100 Federal Reserve notes. Those notes were released into circulation Oct. 8, 2013.

The BEP delivered to the Federal Reserve Board 6.6 billion FRNs, resulting in revenue of $695 million. 

Of that total, 1.9 billion FRNs were printed at the BEP’s Washington, D.C., facility and 4.7 billion notes were printed at its Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth, Texas, according to the report. 

For 2014 the Federal Reserve Board has ordered 6.1 billion Federal Reserve notes.

Other highlights include:

Two Large Examining and Printing Equipment (LEPE) machines became fully operational at the BEP’s plant in Texas, and produced more than 1 billion $1 Federal Reserve notes. 

The machines combine “previously separate manufacturing processes” into a single process of printing serial numbers and seals, in addition to cutting and packaging,” according to the report.

The LEPE machines are also able to process 50-subject currency sheets, compared to the BEP’s traditional 32-subject format. Having these machines working will also allow the BEP to “produce increasingly more complex currency note designs” in the future.

The 2013 CFO report is available to download from the BEP’s website.