The US dollar is one of the main reserve currencies and the most popular means of payment in the world. The appearance of gray-green bills is known to everyone and everyone, but a lot of interesting facts are connected with the origin, history and circulation of the dollar.
For example, the size of US dollar banknotes does not depend on the face value, and the cost of making one bill is 5.7 cents. Other interesting details we have gathered in today's Top 10 interesting facts about the US dollar.
10. The nominal value of the largest banknote in dollars is 100 thousand
Hundred-thousandth banknotes were in circulation until 1969. President Richard Nixon has limited the capabilities of the printing press, setting the upper bar for the face value of banknotes - 100 US dollars. By the way, one hundred thousandth notes issued before 1969 can be exchanged for those in circulation by contacting the Federal Reserve System.
9. Dollars are printed according to the 1929 standard
The appearance of the most famous notes in the world was approved back in 1929. Then it was found that on the front side is a portrait, and on the back - monuments of history, architecture and nature. By the way, a woman’s portrait fell into dollars only once - in 1886. A 1 dollar banknote depicted Martha Washington.
8. Dollars are unusually durable
Modern banknotes withstand more than 4 thousand bends without breaking. Although each bill has its own life: for $ 100 - 5 years, and for $ 20 - only 25 months. The logic is simple - bills of a smaller denomination often pass from hand to hand and wear out more.
7. Every day, 35 million banknotes are published.
Fresh and crisp US dollars are put into circulation daily. About 35 million banknotes of various denominations are designed to replace worn ones. If the sums are summed up, it turns out that every day the States print money in the amount of about $ 635 million. True, almost the same amount worn out bills are withdrawn from circulation on a daily basis.
6. On each coin and banknote is the inscription "In God We Trust"
For the first time the inscription “We hope and trust in God” appeared on American coins in 1864. And only a hundred years later, the obligatory presence of the legendary inscription on all, without exception, banknotes was fixed in the law.
5. The most common banknote - $ 1
About half of all printed banknotes are $ 1 banknotes. But two-dollar banknotes were last printed in 2003 and are gradually being phased out.
4. Materials for the production of dollars - linen and cotton
The paper on which the dollars are printed includes 25% of flax, 75% of cotton and the smallest synthetic fibers in a small amount. These fibers have blue and red colors and are visible on the entire surface of the bill. The approximate weight of the banknote is 1 gram.
3. The word "dollar" comes from the German "Taler"
The first name “dollar” was received not by American money, but by the Scottish coin, circulating from 1567 to 1571. In America, the thalers, who gave the name to the dollars, brought the Dutch settlers. The name "dollar" was officially assigned to the American currency in 1794.
2. The slang word "bucks" comes from the name of a deer skin
In English, the skin of a buck is buck. These skins were almost the main subject of trade with the Indians, who gladly changed them to "fiery water", salt, cartridges, etc. There is also a version linking bucks with the name of the ancient god of winemaking Bacchus.
1. The US dollar is the official currency not only in the States
The US national currency is official in countries such as El Salvador, East Timor, Ecuador, Zimbabwe and the Marshall Islands. And in Guam, Palau, and Puerto Rico, US dollars are legally circulated along with local currencies.
