Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Bureau of Engraving and Printing Review

Paper money has been printed here since 1914, when the bureau relocated from the redbrick-towered Auditors Building at the corner of 14th Street and Independence Avenue. In addition to paper currency, military certificates and presidential invitations are printed here, too. You can only enter the bureau on tours, which last about 40 minutes. From March through August, free same-day timed-entry tour passes are issued starting at 8 am (plan on being in line no later than 7 am) at the Raoul Wallenberg Place SW ticket booth. For the rest of the year, tickets are not required and visitors simply wait in line—up to two hours in spring and summer, longer if a tour bus unloads just as you arrive; waits will likely be short in the off-peak months, September through February. You also can arrange a tour through your senator or representative; these tours are offered year-round, Monday through Friday at 8:15 and 8:45 am and also every 15 minutes from 4 to 4:45 pm, April through August.