It costs only a few cents for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce a $100 bill, but other countries had to pony up $100 of actual goods in order to obtain one.

 Barry Eichengreen, Exorbitant Privilege

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Alexander Zhikun He. Gold‑nominal‑constant‑USD. 2013, Wikimedia Commons.
2. Eichengreen, Barry. Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 2011.