Bureau of Engraving and Printing - Western Currency Facility Tour and Visitor Center

Went to the Bureau of Engraving & Printing (BEP), and enjoyed every bit of it! Leave your phones, cameras, and smart watches in your car. As those items are prohibited from entering the museum. The Bureau’s place for tourists is free and free parking as well. The tour will take approximately an hour to two hours, because of how informative the place is. You will have to go through security, then be taken to the bureau’s tourist place, and that’s where the magic begins! You will get to see how the U.S. currency is processed, watch a movie on the money making, get to see a spider money making process, and get to see different procedures that the U.S. currency goes through before it heads to the Federal Reserve bank. Best governmental place to visit and soak in all the information and reality of money making. This place had a lot of information, that I will probably return because of how much I enjoyed it and because of how much wealth of information is being given to you. There is a gift shop that is undergoing renovation and that will get more gift shop items in the near future.

Great place to spend a few hours! Learned so much about the printing of money. They have a self guided recorded type of tour. Not anything exciting but with the recording you can know where to watch as they print the money and check for errors. No photos or recording devices allowed inside. Not even a smart watch! Take all jewelry, watches and phones and leave them in the car. Printing money is serious business! Probably not good for small children.

Awesome place to visit and learn about the American "greenbacks." Cameras are not allowed during the tour, so the memories are all that remain after the tour, and a few handouts. The place is fascinating, though, and worth the time.

If shows like "How it works?" appeal to you, you'll like this. There are two main attractions here. First is the 'money factory', where they manufacture money at large scale and they detail the elaborate things they have to do to make it very difficult to copy it. The second attraction is the museum where the history of money is chronicled. Both were interesting enough to hold teen attention. It's hard to ignore pallets with hundreds of millions of dollars right in front of you. The tour is done at your own pace without a human guide with an electronic playback device you hold at your ear that plays recordings at the various viewing windows. There's also a gift shop where there are seemingly only two things to buy: Sheets of uncut money and shredded money. I was expecting the uncut money sheets to be more than their face value, however, they run roughly 2x the price. Since pulling individual sheets is an exception to the regular production, I expected a 20% mark up. But not 100%. That was really the only detractor. All in all, a unique experience with no entry fee.

Visiting the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing offered an intriguing glimpse into the production of U.S. currency. The building itself is quite interesting, housing the impressive feat of producing 60% of all U.S. paper currency. The tour begins with a 21-minute video, which, although somewhat dated, provides a good introduction to the currency production process. The shift from person-guided tours to a self-guided format using a wand for audio at each of the nine stops is a notable change. While informative, the audio segments felt a bit lengthy, but they did offer detailed insights into each stage of currency production. The real highlight came after the audio tour, with the exhibits. These were engaging and offered a deeper dive into the intricacies of currency design, security features, and the historical evolution of U.S. banknotes. These exhibits were not only educational but also visually interesting, making the latter part of the visit particularly enjoyable. Overall, the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing is worth a visit for those interested in the behind-the-scenes workings of currency production. While the self-guided tour might require a bit of patience, the wealth of information and fascinating exhibits make it a rewarding experience.

Excellent trip. We loved the experience of seeing how the bills are made. After coming here, I can say that I've been to both US mints. This one and the DC mint are excellent at showcasing how they operate in a safe manner. The amount of security was insane, but I know. They need it. *Be prepared to have nothing with you other than a wallet. Smart watches, phones, cameras, knives/other weapons. Nothing other than money can pass the front entry building.

Fabulous self guided tour. Free entry. Very informative. Learn via movie, static and interactive displays, and viewing live the proxess of making of our nation's currency. Well worth the drive to see this place. High level of security. Staff were exceptionally nice. No photos allowed on the inside, therefore only two pictures from the parking lot.

2024-08-13 - 4 Stars Always great to stop in and take a self guided tour. Very limited items in the gift shop. Thinking there use to be more options. ( pre covid ) All staff and security personnel were great. Great communication with all. And to folks like n the floor close to the printing process, thanks for acknowledging folks taking the tour. The waves, smiles and thumbs up go a long way. Keep up the good work !!!!