Fact check: False claim that the US has stopped making new currency available

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: The Federal Reserve has suspended production of all new paper currency

Social media users are claiming paper currency is going out of production.

In a Dec. 9 Facebook post, a woman, who says she is at her bank, looks directly into the camera with a paper sign attached to the wall behind her, and she says that her bank has notified her that the government has stopped producing paper money.

"The Federal Reserve has suspended the availability of new currency," reads the paper sign behind the woman in the video. "As a result, PFFCU (Police and Fire Federal Credit Union) will not be able to provide new bills as we have in previous years when requested."

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The post garnered more than 11,000 shares in six days. Similar versions have been shared on Facebook.

But the claim is false. The Fed recently announced that it will no longer allow banks to submit orders for new bills for the end-of-the-year holiday period, also known as "holiday currency special orders." Nevertheless, the Fed will continue to take regular orders from banks for new currency and distribute the new bills periodically throughout the year.

In addition, U.S. currency is printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, not the Fed, and there is no evidence that the bureau has stopped producing paper bills.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.

Federal Reserve continues to distribute new paper currency

A Fed spokesperson told USA TODAY it has not halted the distribution of paper money. The spokesperson also confirmed that the Fed does not print money.

The Fed sends an annual order for new currency to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing based on demand and distributes the notes to its 12 Federal Reserve banks, which then supply the nation's depository institutions with cash.

The Fed published its 2023 currency print order on its website.

Before the pandemic, the Fed allowed banks to put in an additional request for new bills around the holiday season. This was offered to meet the demand for fresh bills used for gifts, as opposed to "fit bills" that are older but still suitable for circulation, the spokesperson said.

This program was suspended amid the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and the Fed announced Aug. 31 it was ending the program permanently. It cited a need to operate more efficiently given high demand for currency

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"While the holiday currency special ordering periods are being discontinued, the Reserve Banks continue to pay out new currency to depository institutions in all denominations periodically throughout the year," the Fed said in the release.

A new series of notes recently went into production, according to the Fed, and this series has been updated to include the signatures of Biden administration officials: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Treasurer Marilynn Malerba.

USA TODAY has previously debunked claims that the production of paper currency would soon be discontinued and that a cash-free digital currency would be rolled out.

This claim was debunked by PolitiFact as well.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that the Fed has suspended production of all new paper currency. The Fed has permanently suspended the ability to replace worn bills with fresh ones around the holiday season, but it continues to distribute new currency to its reserve banks regularly throughout the year.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: The Federal Reserve continues to distribute paper currency