RESEARCH CENTER

Auction FAQs

What is a Treasury securities auction?

Each U.S. Treasury bill, note, bond, or Treasury Inflation-Protected Security (TIPS) is sold at a public auction. In these auctions, all successful bidders are awarded securities at the same price, which is the price that corresponds to the highest rate or yield of the competitive bids we accept. A complete explanation of the auction process can be found in our Uniform Offering Circular, which is in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 31 CFR Part 356.

How do I start?

Legacy Treasury Direct account holders may submit tenders in any auction through Legacy Treasury Direct and can bid using Electronic Services.

To bid directly, Institutional Investors must first establish a TAAPS account. You may then submit electronic tenders in any U.S. Treasury public securities auction.

How do I find out when an auction will take place?

  • Subscribe to get auction announcements electronically through e-mail.
  • View current and past announcements on the TreasuryDirect website.
  • Call 800-722-2678 to get the latest announcements.

Where can I find long-range information on auctions?

Usually on the first Wednesday of February, May, August, and November, the U.S. Treasury publishes a calendar with tentative auction schedules. These dates can change, but seldom do. Besides this calendar, we provide a general pattern of when auctions are held; this information is available by type of security and by month.

How can I participate in an auction?

Simply submit a tender with a bid for the security you would like to purchase. You can bid either noncompetitively or competitively, but not both ways in the same auction. In TreasuryDirect and Legacy Treasury Direct, you can only bid noncompetitively.

If you bid noncompetitively, you'll receive the full amount of the security you want at the return determined at the auction close. Therefore, you don't have to specify the discount rate or yield you'd like to receive. Noncompetitive bids are limited to $5 million in a U.S. Treasury bill, note, bond, or TIPS auction. Most individual investors bid noncompetitively.

If you bid competitively, you have to specify the return - the discount rate for bills or the yield for notes, bonds, and TIPS - that you wish to receive. If the rate or yield you specify is too high, you might receive a portion of the securities you bid for or none at all. But, you can bid competitively for larger amounts than you can noncompetitively. Awards cannot exceed 35% of the total offering.

How do I find out the results of an auction?

  • Subscribe to get these results electronically through e-mail.
  • View the results on TreasuryDirect.gov. The results for bills and notes, bonds, and TIPS may be viewed in separate tables.
  • Some newspapers report auction results.

What is a single-price auction?

U.S. Treasury bills, notes, bonds, and TIPS are sold at single-price auctions. In a single-price auction, all successful competitive bidders and all noncompetitive bidders are awarded securities at the price equivalent to the highest rate or yield of accepted competitive tenders.