CURRENCY STORY
NOVEMBER 18, 2021
Facts Of United States Dollar
Some interesting facts of United States dollar :
- The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the US dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar.
- On April 2, 1792 the first United States dollar was created. In 1862, the first USA paper money was printed. It replaced various foreign currencies including Pound sterling and Spanish dollar.
- In 2017, there was about US$ 40 trillion of US currency in circulation, 97% of it was Federal Reserve Notes. This includes physical money and the money deposited in savings and checking accounts.
- “Dollar” is the English name of “thaler”, a German word meaning “person or thing from the valley”.
- Back in 1519, the “thaler” was the name for the first minted coins from silver mines in Joachimsthal, Bohemia.
- The United States dollar is not backed by gold or any other precious metal.
- The history of dollar sign started as a U on top of an S, as shortened for “United States”. Over the time the U disappeared, leaving only S with only one line.
- The highest dollar denomination was $100.000 in circulation. Federal Reserves has issued $1.000, $5.000 and $10.000 in the past decades. Currently the highest denomination is the $100 bill.
- Dollar bills can be folded forward an back at least 8.000 times before reaches the end of its lifespan.
- Inspired from Egyptian civilization, the pyramid on the $1 bill connotes strength and the ability to weather the ages.
- The Latin words “Annuit Coeptis” on top of the pyramid means “God/providence has favored our undertaking”.
- Below the pyramid, “Novus ordo seclorum” means “A new order of the Ages” refers to the United States’ historical government.
- One hidden message on the dollar bill is the Eye at the top of the pyramid. It is the dollar bill’s biggest puzzles.
- One dollar is sometimes called a “single”, a “buck” or an “ace” in rarely. It also has been referred to as a “bean” or “bone”.
- Many countries are willing to hold the dollar in their foreign exchange reserves due to its strength, acceptability and reliability.
- Most modern paper currencies such as the US dollar are fiat currencies. It is not backed by a commodity such as gold thus it gives central banks greater control over the economy because they can control how much money is printed.
- New currencies were introduced in the US in 1861 to back the Civil War in financial term.
- The $1 Federal Reserve note was issued in 1963 and the design remains unchanged. It features President George Washington and the Great Seal of the United States.
- Before the World War II, the world reference currency was the United Kingdom’s pound sterling.
- There are more than 65 countries peg their currencies to the US dollar with five US territories and seven sovereign countries us dollar as their official currency.
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