Unless you're an avid currency collector, an employee of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, or work at the Federal Reserve, you likely didn't know that last year a record number of $50 bills were printed.

Last year, the government printed 756,096,000 of those bills - the highest total of the denomination printed in one year in more than 40 years. If you put all those $50s together, you'd have about $37.8 billion.

So why are you seeing more $50s? Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with inflation - even if it may sometimes feel these days like an item that used to cost $20 now costs $50.

Instead, it all began with the pandemic. People started hoarding cash, the Fed discovered. And it's easier to squirrel away bigger bills.

In July 2021, the Fed noted its

A subsequent report from the San Francisco Fed confirmed that, after 2020, Americans began to carry more cash in their wallets, cars, houses and elsewhere.

So, the Fed ordered a big uptick in $50s. Until the pandemic, the $50 had been one of the rarest bills ordered for years, save for the $2 bill. But for 2021 and 2022, the Fed ordered up more $50s than $10s and $5s.

The printing of various denominations has returned to normal levels this year, as shown by the Fed's 2023 and 2024 print orders. The Fed in its 2023 order said its primary driver now in currency orders is the need to replace damaged notes ($50s last 12.2 years on average, according to the Fed; dollar bills last about half as long.)

The Fed placed its 2024 currency order in July, with an anticipated volume of $50 bills in the range of 99,200,000 to 211,200,000 notes, less than one-third of the 2022 printing.

But cash holdings for American households remain elevated compared to pre-pandemic times, the San Francisco Fed report shows, noting that consumers

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A record number of $50 bills were printed last year. It's not why you think(https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/18/economy/historic-number-of-50-bills-were-printed-last-year/index.html)