What Materials Are Used to Make Paper Money?
US currency is made of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton. Threaded throughout the paper money are red and blue synthetic fibers of different length. These are used for security and as a deterrent to forgeries. The Secretary of Treasury is in charge of the designs and portraits used on paper money. In 1990, microprinting, the process of printing text too small to read with the naked eye, was introduced to deter counterfeiting by advanced copiers and printing machines.
