Bureau of Engraving and Printing in the context of "United States Department of the Treasury"

Federal Reserve Notes are the currently issued banknotes of the United States dollar. The United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, within the Department of the Treasury, produces the notes under the authority of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and issues them to the Federal Reserve Banks at the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Reserve Banks then circulate the notes to their member banks, at which point they become liabilities of the Reserve Banks and obligations of the United States.

Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender, with the words "this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" printed on each note. The notes are backed by financial assets that the Federal Reserve Banks pledge as collateral, which are mainly Treasury securities and mortgage agency securities that they purchase on the open market by fiat payment.

Steel engraving is a technique for printing illustrations on paper using steel printing plates instead of copper, the harder metal allowing a much longer print run before the image quality deteriorates. It has been rarely used in artistic printmaking, although it was much used for reproductions in the 19th century. Steel "engraving", in fact technically mostly using etching, was introduced in 1792 by Jacob Perkins (1766–1849), an American inventor, for banknote printing. When Perkins moved to London in 1818, the technique was adapted in 1820 by Charles Warren and especially by Charles Heath (1785–1848) for Thomas Campbell's Pleasures of Hope, which contained the first published plates engraved on steel. The new technique only partially replaced the other commercial line engraving techniques of that time such as wood engraving, copper engraving and later lithography.

The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments.

The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint, two federal agencies responsible for printing all paper currency and minting coins. The treasury executes currency circulation in the domestic fiscal system, collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, manages U.S. government debt instruments, licenses and supervises banks and thrift institutions, and advises the legislative and executive branches on fiscal policy. The department is administered by the secretary of the treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet. The treasurer of the United States has limited statutory duties, but advises the Secretary on various matters such as coinage and currency production. Signatures of both officials appear on all Federal Reserve Notes.

The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. The U.S. Mint is one of two U.S. agencies that manufactures physical money. The other is the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which prints paper currency. The first United States Mint was created in Philadelphia in 1792, and was soon joined by other centers, whose coins were identified by their own mint marks. There are currently four active coin-producing mints: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point.

The United States one-dollar bill (US$1), sometimes referred to as a single, has been the lowest value denomination of United States paper currency since the discontinuation of U.S. fractional currency notes in 1876. An image of the first U.S. president (1789–1797), George Washington, based on the Athenaeum Portrait, a 1796 painting by Gilbert Stuart, is currently featured on the obverse, and the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse. The one-dollar bill has the oldest overall design of all U.S. currency currently in use. The reverse design of the present dollar debuted in 1935, and the obverse in 1963 when it was first issued as a Federal Reserve Note (previously, one-dollar bills were Silver Certificates). The current US two-dollar bill has the oldest obverse design, dating from 1928.

A dollar bill is composed of 25% linen and 75% cotton. That blend makes the notes more difficult to counterfeit compared to paper (as well as increasing its durability). As of December 31, 2018, the average life of a dollar bill in circulation is 6.6 years before it is replaced due to wear. Approximately 42% of all U.S. currency produced in 2009 were one-dollar bills. As of December 31, 2019, there were 12.7 billion one-dollar bills in circulation worldwide. An engraver at the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, George Frederick Cumming Smillie, made an etching of a painting of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart which was used on multiple banknotes. A vignette of the portrait appears on the one dollar bill of 1899, and on notes since 1918.

William Harris Crawford (February 24, 1772 – September 15, 1834) was an American politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He later ran for U.S. president in the 1824 election.

Born in Virginia, Crawford moved to Georgia with his parents at a young age, and he grew up to become one of the state’s most popular politicians. After studying law, Crawford won election to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1803. He aligned with the Democratic-Republican Party and U.S. Senator James Jackson. In 1807, the Georgia legislature elected Crawford to the U.S. Senate. After the death of Vice President George Clinton, Crawford's position as president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate made him first in the presidential line of succession from April 1812 to March 1813. In 1813, U.S. President James Madison appointed Crawford as the minister to France, and Crawford held that post for the remainder of the War of 1812. After the war, Madison appointed him to the position of Secretary of War. In October 1816, Madison chose Crawford for the position of Secretary of the Treasury, and Crawford would remain in that office for the remainder of Madison's presidency and for the duration of James Monroe's presidency.