Auction FAQs
- Announcement
- Auction
- Issuance
- FAQs
- What is a Treasury securities auction?
- How do I start?
- How do I find out when an auction will take place?
- Where can I find long-range information on upcoming auctions?
- How can I participate in an auction?
- How do I find out the results of an auction?
- What is a single price auction?
What is a Treasury securities auction?
Each Treasury Bill, Note, Bond, or Treasury Inflation-Protected Security (TIPS) is sold at a public auction. In Treasury 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. You can find a complete explanation of the auction process in our Uniform Offering Circular, which is in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 31 CFR Part 356.
How do I start?
Individual Investors and various types of entities including trusts, estates, corporations, partnerships, etc.*: You may wish to establish a TreasuryDirect account. Upon establishing your account, you may purchase Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS). You can also purchase and hold savings bonds in this same account.
*See Learn More about Entity Accounts for full information on the new registration types.
Legacy Treasury Direct Account Holders: You may submit tenders in any auction through Legacy TreasuryDirect and you can bid using Electronic Services for Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds.
Note: The 30-year Bonds, 20-year TIPS, 7-year Notes, and 4-week Bills are not available for purchase in Legacy Treasury Direct, but are available in TreasuryDirect.
For a description of the differences between TreasuryDirect and Legacy Treasury Direct, see My Accounts.
Institutional Investors: If you wish to bid directly in Treasury auctions, you must first establish a TAAPS account. Upon establishing your account, you may submit electronic tenders in any of Treasury's public securities auctions.
How do I find out when an auction will take place?
Generally, public auctions are announced several days in advance; on rare occasions, Treasury may make an announcement on the same day as the auction. Investors may subscribe to receive these announcements electronically via e-mail. Additionally, you may view these current and past announcements on the Bureau of the Public Debt's Web site. You may also obtain auction information by calling 800-722-2678 or writing to the customer contact center.
Where can I find long-range information on auctions?
Usually on the first Wednesday of February, May, August, and November, Treasury publishes a multi-month calendar with tentative auction dates. These tentative dates can change, but seldom do. In addition to 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 Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds, or TIPS auctions. Most individual investors bid noncompetitively.
If you bid competitively, on the other hand, 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. However, you can bid competitively for larger amounts than you can noncompetitively. Awards cannot exceed 35 percent of the total offering.
How do I find out the results of an auction?
The results of all public auctions are released after each auction. Investors may subscribe to receive these results electronically via e-mail. Additionally, you may view the results on the Bureau of the Public Debt's Web site. The results for Bills and Notes, Bonds, and TIPS may be viewed in separate tables with the most recent auction listed at the top of the table. In addition, some newspapers report auction results.
In your online TreasuryDirect account, you should look at your Current Holdings, Pending Transactions Detail after 5 pm Eastern Time on auction day and check the price per $100 and accrued interest to determine the total price of the security. Next, make sure the source of funds you selected has sufficient funds to cover the total price.
What is a single-price auction?
Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds, and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (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.
