Thickness Of A Dollar Bill - The Physics Factbook - Hypertextbook

Money, simply put, is what people use to buy things. It can best be described as anything agreed on to be accepted in exchange for things that have been sold or worked for. The first coins came about to assure the value of metal money. They were given set weights and stamped with designs so that their value would not be mistaken. The use of paper money developed in England during the 1600s. People back then stored their money with goldsmiths, who in return would give paper receipts worth the same value of their coined money. These receipts were accepted by businesses because with the receipt businesses were able to retrieve the payments from the goldsmiths.

Modern day paper money is made by skillful engravers who cut the designs into steel plates. One engineer works on the portraits and another on the lettering. All other designs are taken care of by other engineers. The engraving goes to a transfer press, where it is squeezed against a steel roller and the design is pressed into the roller's surface. The design is then applied to a printing plate that is used to print the bills. To avoid counterfeiting the government uses paper and ink made by special processes to print the bills. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing guard the ink and paper under high security.

Paper money in the United States has special characteristics including length, width, thickness, and physical design. The size of a dollar bill is 6.6294 cm wide, by 15.5956 cm long, and 0.010922 cm in thickness. Paper money is also equipped with printing plate identification number, number of federal reserve district where issued, year in which the bill was designed, seal and letter identifying Federal Reserve District where issued, serial number in two different places, and a treasury seal.

Denene Williams -- 1999