What's Inside Your Paper Money? | Origins: The Journey of Humankind

The United States is so obsessively protective of its currency that it guards its security right down to the specific fibers that comprise each bill. US currency may be the most counterfeited money in the world. McCrane Paper here in Dalton became the supplier of paper for US currency in 1879 and has held that contract ever since.

Then, we are now the sole supplier of currency paper for the US government. Crane Paper is special because of the materials that we choose—high-quality natural fibers. Cotton and flax fibers, which had traditionally been used in textile making, are still used for US currency, as opposed to ordinary papers made today with wood pulp.

There are a lot of clever people that work hard to try to create counterfeits. Security features in the 100 dollar note include a watermark feature with the portrait of Benjamin Franklin, which is put in the paper-making process. Then, the most prominent security features, now the 3D ribbon.

Here, in the Western world, we are accustomed to credit and digital electronic transactions, but one of the features of currency paper, of course, is anonymity. I think that's partly why it's valued by many around the world, as they can conduct transactions using money without having traceability to it. So, a lot of the world still relies on this tangible product: paper and money.