Sidney R. Yates Building, Washington, DC - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing got its start during the American Civil War. In order to help finance that war, the U.S. Government authorized the use of paper money for the first time since the American Revolution. What began as a small operation inside the Treasury Department (cutting, trimming and signing currency notes printed by private contractors) eventually grew into the large enterprise that it is today occupying the huge building on 15th Street in Washington DC and several other facilities including one in Fort Worth, TX.

The first notes that were completely engraved and printed within the confines of the Treasury building (the one on Pennsylvania Ave. next to the White House) were the Fractional Currency issues of 1863. Since all these notes had denominations of less than one dollar, an early unofficial name for the Bureau was the “Small Notes Room.” It wasn’t until 1874 that the “Bureau of Engraving and Printing” was officially recognized and funded as a separate entity by the U.S. Government.

By the 1870s, security concerns and disruption caused by having noisy industrial equipment running near their offices, drove the Treasury Dept. to request a separate building to house the printing operation. Funding was authorized in 1878 and the new building was completed in 1880. It was designed by James G. Hill, Supervising Architect of the Treasury, in a Romanesque style complete with a clock tower (but no clock due to budget constraints). This is the building depicted on the souvenir sheet as it was here where the Bureau of Engraving and Printing first produced postage stamps.

As demand for paper money increased, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing outgrew their original building and, in 1914, moved into the much larger facility located just to the south. The old building was utilized by auditors from various government departments for many years but had fallen into disuse by the 1960s. It was slated for demolition in 1966 but escaped the wrecking ball due to a lack of funds. Now, after substantial modernization, it has become home to the U.S. Forest Service. The newly renovated building was named in honor of Congressman Sidney R. Yates of Illinois who was instrumental in the creation of the Holocaust Memorial Museum located right behind it. (And, in 2017, an actual clock was finally added to the clock tower completing the original design.)

Although primarily known for printing money, the BEP’s output has never been limited to currency notes. Over the years they’ve also produced passports, money orders, revenue stamps, invitations, certificates, ID cards and, beginning in 1894, postage stamps. The first postage stamp produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was a 6c issue featuring the likeness of President James A. Garfield. It had the same basic design as the one in current use, but it, like all the stamps of the first BEP issue, had triangular devices added to the upper corners in order to distinguish it from the corresponding stamp produced by the American Banknote Company.

The souvenir sheet was issued in 1994 to celebrate 100 years of stamp production at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In addition to the original BEP building, it contains four $2.00 stamps from the original BEP issue (made with the original die). Unlike the 6-cent Garfield stamp, the $2.00 issue had a completely new vignette engraved by the Bureau featuring President James Madison.

By 2005, all postage stamp production had ceased at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing as it had all been outsourced to private security printers.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 3-Nov-1994 Denomination: 4x$2.00 Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Multiple (blocks, etc.) Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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