What a cluster!

[jtryka]

Apparently the Fed and BEP are having loads of problems with the new c-notes, with as much as 30% produced with a foldover printing error! This has hit the mainstream as Chopper Ben's $110 BILLION problem!

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Fed-Has-a-110-Billion-cnbc-1062012685.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=

 

[HiHoAudio]

All the BEP has to do is run ads on late night TV that scream "New $100 error notes at only $5 over face value! Please, strict two banknote limit!" and they will dispose of all of them in a month and even make a profit.

[Scott B]

All the BEP has to do is run ads on late night TV that scream "New $100 error notes at only $5 over face value! Please, strict two banknote limit!" and they will dispose of all of them in a month and even make a profit.

 

They can sell the notes at face value and make a hefty profit. They only cost 12-cents to make. That would be $99.88 profit (seigniorage) per note!

 

Scott

 

[jtryka]

Yeah, but most of these notes circulate in other countries, like the former communist countries of eastern Europe, and there they won't accept a bill if it's not the latest design or if it has any writing or stamps on it since they are so mindful of counterfeits. Try passing a not with a big blank strip in the middle and the next thing you know demand for euros starts skyrocketing! Not exactly the result the BEP was looking for...

[coinman_23885]

Apparently the Fed and BEP are having loads of problems with the new c-notes, with as much as 30% produced with a foldover printing error! This has hit the mainstream as Chopper Ben's $110 BILLION problem!

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Fed-Has-a-110-Billion-cnbc-1062012685.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=

 

No one noticed this before they had printed that many? Aren't there quality control measures in place?

[JIM F.]

Our government must have the most inept employees ever (probably hired under the politically correct cloak word game of "diversity"). Just stupidity.

 

[Cassius King-migration]

They don't have a designated wrinkle inspector. So it's nobody's job.

I'm sure congress will authorize the position soon.

[Scott B]

You know guys, before you comment on something, why don't you take some time and look under the headlines. Have you ever been to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing plant in either Washington, DC or Fort Worth, TX? Do you know how the machines operate? What access people have with the machines? Exactly where the folding has occurred?

 

The printing systems are a closed process. Nobody sees the notes until AFTER they are cut and stacked. Why? Because it is a security concern to minimize access to the process. The BEP uses cameras and computers to check on the process as it passes.

 

HOWEVER, the BEP has NOT announced where the problems are. Unofficially, I was told by someone whom I have confidence with that the problems ARE NOT with the printing but with the cutting and stacking. Apparently, the new security strip causes problems with the cutters and the notes are being folded on the ends rather than cut.

 

Since this is an automated process, it is difficult to monitor at the speeds the machines run. Thus, it is only apparent until AFTER the notes are stacked.

 

There is another issue in the "flipping" process. Since the intaglio printing is pressed on one side at a time, the notes have to be flipped. However, some of the notes are getting folded just slightly because of the new security strip. But the fold is so slight that the paper fits well within the tolerances the computerized sensor expect.

 

Having met some of the people who work in the BEP, I know they take a lot of pride in their jobs and the quality of the notes they produce. These are fine citizens whose work is to ensure commerce has its money supply and that the dollar, regardless of the paper denomination, stays the world's premier currency.

 

The snarky comments about the people of the BEP are insulting, especially when some do not know anything more than the headlines.

 

No, I do not work for the government. I do know people who work for the BEP and understand what their jobs entail from what they tell me and what I have seen by visiting the facility in Washington. I respect how hard they work and what they do. I also know that this situation bothers them more than anything else. I just wish those who like to blow comments out certain orifices would understand that they are talking about real people with real jobs and pride for their work.

 

Scott

[jtryka]

Scott,

 

I never said anything against the folks that work for the BEP, the one's I've met at the DC facility seemed very nice and professional. My snarky comments are directed at the government as well as the BEP currency printing operation's largest customer. If anyone at that client had even 1/10th the desire to protect the dollar the way the BEP folks do, we wouldn't have a Fed chairman reminiscent of Haverstein on crack...but I digress,

[Scott B]

There is a difference between the government worker, most of them working on the General Schedule or equivalent, and the appointees. Everyone who works in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing are government workers. None of them, including Director Larry Felix, are appointees.

 

OTOH, Ben Bernanke is an appointee. Larry Felix's boss, Secretary Tim Geithner, is an appointee. Larry Felix's counterpart at the U.S. Mint, Ed Moy (who resigned), is an appointee.

 

When you make your comments, please understand there are differences between the appointees (who deserve heavy criticism) and the professional government workers who are very dedicated to doing their jobs--like the entire staff at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing!

 

Scott