Currency in circulation is the Federal Reserve’s measure of all physical Federal Reserve notes and coins held outside the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Banks themselves, and it stood at roughly $2.4 trillion at the end of 2025.1Federal Reserve. Currency in Circulation: Value The count includes cash in wallets and cash registers, currency stored in commercial bank vaults, and the large share of U.S. bills held abroad. It is one of the most closely watched indicators of how much physical money is actually available in the economy, and the Fed updates it every week.
What the Number Actually Counts
The Fed’s definition is specific: currency in circulation is every Federal Reserve note and coin that sits outside the Treasury and the twelve Reserve Banks.2Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Monetary Base: Currency in Circulation Cash inside a JPMorgan Chase vault counts. Cash inside a Federal Reserve processing center does not. Once a bill leaves government custody, it is in circulation until it comes back.
Two related terms cause most of the confusion. The “currency component of the money stock” is a narrower figure that strips out vault cash and counts only what the general public holds. It is useful for estimating how much money is actively changing hands. “Currency outstanding” runs the other way and is broader: it captures every note and coin ever issued that has not been officially destroyed, including bills still sitting in Treasury warehouses waiting to be shipped.2Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Monetary Base: Currency in Circulation Currency in circulation is the middle measure and the most economically meaningful one, because it captures the cash that has actually entered the financial system.
How the Fed Tracks and Reports It
The Federal Reserve publishes the H.4.1 statistical release, formally titled “Factors Affecting Reserve Balances,” every Thursday around 4:30 p.m. Eastern.3Federal Reserve. Factors Affecting Reserve Balances – H.4.1 The report shows a balance sheet for each of the twelve Reserve Banks along with a consolidated statement, current through the close of business the prior Wednesday.4Federal Reserve. Federal Reserve Balance Sheet: Factors Affecting Reserve Balances – H.4.1 Currency in circulation appears as a line item, and week-to-week changes reveal shifts in public demand for cash in near-real time.
Coin production is tracked separately. The Treasury Department reports coin figures through the U.S. Mint, and those numbers are reconciled with Federal Reserve note data to produce a unified picture. Researchers, investors, and policy analysts use the combined records to monitor liquidity, spot seasonal swings, and evaluate the real-world footprint of monetary policy decisions.
How Cash Enters and Leaves Circulation
The mechanics of the number are worth understanding, because currency in circulation only rises when cash physically leaves the Fed and only falls when it comes back.
Paper Notes
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces Federal Reserve notes at its facilities in Washington, D.C. and Fort Worth, Texas. Finished notes ship to Federal Reserve Bank vaults and wait there until a commercial bank places an order. When a bank needs cash to stock its ATMs or teller windows, it requests a delivery from the local Reserve Bank, and the Fed debits that bank’s reserve account for the face value shipped.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 12 – 411 At that moment, currency in circulation ticks up. The bank is effectively buying the cash with reserves.
Under 12 U.S.C. § 411, Federal Reserve notes are obligations of the United States, receivable by all national and member banks for taxes, customs, and other public dues.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 12 – 411 That legal backing is what makes the paper worth its printed value.
The return trip reverses everything. When a bank accumulates more cash than customers need, it ships the surplus back to the Fed and receives a credit to its reserve account, which lowers the circulation figure. During processing, the Fed inspects each note and pulls anything too worn, torn, or soiled. Unfit notes are shredded and replaced with fresh ones. The cycle keeps the physical stock in good condition and lets the total volume expand or contract with real demand.
Coins
Coins follow a slightly different path. The U.S. Mint produces pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters at its Philadelphia and Denver facilities based on a rolling 12-month forecast from the Federal Reserve.6U.S. Mint. How Coins Are Made: Bringing Coins Into Circulation Armored carriers move finished coins to Federal Reserve branch offices and private coin terminals, where depository institutions order what they need. Coins rarely wear out, so removals are driven by shifting demand rather than physical deterioration.
The Print Order
Most new production replaces bills already in circulation rather than adding to the stock. The Federal Reserve Board’s 2026 print order calls for roughly 4.4 billion new notes across all denominations, with the largest orders for $1 and $20 notes, which see the heaviest daily use and wear out fastest.7Federal Reserve. 2026 Currency Print Order The variable cost of printing a $100 note under the 2025 currency operating budget was 11.3 cents.8Federal Reserve. How Much Does It Cost to Produce Currency and Coin? The gap between printing cost and face value is called seigniorage, and it produces real revenue for the federal government every time a high-denomination note enters circulation.
What Moves the Total Up or Down
Seasonal Patterns
Cash demand follows predictable rhythms. The year-end holiday shopping period consistently produces the biggest spike, as people withdraw cash for gifts, travel, and tips. After the holidays, the extra currency flows back through businesses and banks to the Federal Reserve. Retailers that deal heavily in cash often see smaller surges around summer travel and major sale events. Over longer horizons, the share of transactions settled in cash has drifted lower as digital wallets and contactless payments have spread, yet the total dollar value in circulation has kept climbing.
Interest Rates and Financial Stress
When savings accounts pay attractive interest, holding physical cash carries a real cost, because every dollar in a wallet is a dollar not earning a return. High rates tend to pull money into deposits. The opposite happens during periods of economic stress. When confidence in banks or markets wavers, people withdraw cash as a hedge. That flight-to-liquidity pattern showed up clearly during the 2008 financial crisis and again in early 2020, when currency in circulation jumped sharply within weeks.
Foreign Demand
A large share of U.S. currency never circulates domestically. Federal Reserve research has estimated that more than 60% of all U.S. bills, and nearly 80% of $100 bills, are held overseas. In countries with unstable banking systems or high inflation, U.S. cash serves as a store of value that locals trust more than their own currency. Foreign appetite is a major reason the $100 note dominates the denomination mix and why the aggregate total keeps growing even as Americans increasingly pay with cards and phones.
Denomination Breakdown
At the end of 2025, roughly 56.6 billion individual notes were in circulation.9Federal Reserve. Currency in Circulation: Volume The $100 bill accounted for the largest share at 19.9 billion notes, followed by the $1 at 15.2 billion and the $20 at 11.0 billion. Other denominations trailed well behind:
- $5: 3.7 billion notes
- $50: 2.5 billion notes
- $10: 2.4 billion notes
- $2: 1.8 billion notes
The dominance of the $100 bill is notable because most Americans rarely use one for a purchase. Its outsized share reflects international demand and its appeal as a compact store of value. By dollar value, $100 notes account for the vast majority of the $2.4 trillion total.1Federal Reserve. Currency in Circulation: Value A small residual of high-denomination notes ($500 through $10,000) issued before 1946 also remains technically outstanding, though the Fed stopped distributing them decades ago.9Federal Reserve. Currency in Circulation: Volume
Why the Measure Matters
Currency in circulation is a real-time gauge of the public’s appetite for physical money. It responds to holidays, interest rates, and financial confidence, and it reflects the world’s demand for dollars alongside domestic use. Even as electronic payments handle a growing share of daily transactions, the aggregate value of physical U.S. cash has continued to rise, and the Fed’s weekly H.4.1 release remains the authoritative place to watch that number move.