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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;jwa_jwa_jwa, post: 989853, member: 22516&quot;]I was in DC last week and toured the BEP. I felt like I owed the CT community with a recap of the tour on this thread.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are 2 main BEP buildings. There is one clearly marked for visitors and tours. On the outside the front door you notice that the glass is completely darkened so you cannot see inside. Also, there is a sign there that tells you not to knock on the door, that the security or tour guide will be opening the door for you when it&#039;s time. </p><p>Sure enough we waited outside and soon enough someone opened the door and allowed us in. Immediately upon entering there was a security checkpoint. We were a bit delayed so when they asked us if we were there for a public tour or a pre-scheduled one, they rushed us through a long, room to a section at the end where a video on the history of the BEP was playing. On our way there, we passed 2 other groups of individuals waiting for the next scheduled tour to begin.</p><p><br /></p><p>After we watched the video we were reminded by the tour guide that there would be no pictures, video or any type of recording device. </p><p><br /></p><p>(the rest of the story will be much more visible to those who have been to the Philadelphia Mint tour as there are many similarities between both locations)</p><p><br /></p><p>We were led up a narrow electrical stairs to a second floor where we turned left then quickly turned right to encounter a long, narrow corridor with glass covered walls. The corridor was split down the middle by a metal divider to allow us to walk down on the right side , going to the end the walking to the other side for viewing activity on the other side of the room.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the first section, this is where they prepared the paper for printing and printed notes. Around this room were many advertisements for the new $100 bill due in February 2011. I noticed stacks and stacks of unprinted and printed $20 notes. One of the employees held a stack of unprinted currency which he was about to inspect. The paper for $100 bills was pre-printed with (doing my best to remember the details) the feather and white area that is on the front of the bill. So none of the serial numbers, Secretary of Treasury and other printed information was on them yet.</p><p><br /></p><p>We walked to the end of the walkway and at the end spun around to view the other side of the room.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the second section, we were told is where they examined the currency for errors. They also told us about the star currencies and how they come about (*duh*).</p><p><br /></p><p>We walked into yet another section, structured identically to the first we went to earlier. Here, we were told is where the money was applied the seal and officially became money. We noticed countless stacks of </p><p>$20 bricks all around the room. The size of each room must have been about 200 feet long by 75 wide. Also, it was in this last room where the sheets of currency were cut up and sealed into bricks. The </p><p>16-dollar sheets are fed in through a converyor belt and as they pass through a machine, they are first cut up in half, then into another half and so on until they are 2 bills.</p><p><br /></p><p>At the end of the converyor belt, the currency is stacked and plastic wrapped into individuals bricks. Each brick continues on the belt until they are all stacked neatly and placed on pallets.</p><p><br /></p><p>You are then led through another set of electric stairs going down. </p><p><br /></p><p>This is your final stop, it is the gift shop. The room is rather large and contains displays of current offering like the &#039;Lucky Money&#039; series and uncut bills. By comparison, the gift shop in Philadelphia has much more for sale and is decorated like a gift shop whereas the BEP gift shop seems not to have enough for the size of the room it&#039;s in. The BEP gift shop is about 3x larger than the Philadelphia gift shop. I remember seeing about 6 shirts hanging on the wall (t-shirts and polos) with an about 3 tables full of calendars, confederate money, keychains, pencils, mugs, you get the idea, but not much else.</p><p><br /></p><p>At the end of the tour, you find yourself at the other end of the building (meaning you have traversed it from one side to the other) and exit out into a different street.</p><p><br /></p><p>The tour lasted about 30-45 minutes. I did enjoy going but felt the offerings in the gift shop were ineadequate and pricey.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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