US dollar: what is this currency, features, interesting facts

The US dollar is known, perhaps, in all countries of the world. It is one of the main currencies and international means of payment. It is used in exchange trading and accepted as payment in almost any country in the world. Every exchange office will exchange the U.S. dollar for local currency. The name “dollar” became the official name for the currency of America since 1794. However, its history can be called a happy accident of sudden success.

The dollar - what kind of currency it is

In 1785, on July 6, the united congress of the United States adopted the dollar as the official currency. At face value, bills are calculated according to the decimal system. The smallest coins are cents. One dollar consists of 100 cents. Now banknotes are printed in 1, 2 dollars, in 5, 10, 20 and 50 dollars. There is also a denomination of 100 dollars. The dollar is denoted by the abbreviation USD, that is, the United States dollar. It is used by banks and currency exchangers. Since 1914 dollars are printed by the Federal Reserve System. Coins are produced by the U.S. Mint.

History of the formation of the dollar

At first, the dollar was unpopular and in just 30 years became the basis of the entire world economy. At the beginning of the XX century, this currency was not as widespread as the pound sterling. The dollar did not have its own Central Bank.

The First World War had severely depleted Europe. It needed credit. The US was not affected by the war as much, so it lent money to the poorer wealthy gentlemen of Europe. As a result, by 1920, the US had accumulated half of the world's gold reserve. After World War II, the U.S. continued to collect gold reserves from various countries. They began to own three quarters of them.

In 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreement made the dollar the reserve currency. However, in 1965, France demanded its gold bullion back and exchanged it for dollars. Other countries began to do the same. This threatened to collapse the dollar's financial system. In 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon stopped the exchange of gold. This currency was decoupled from the gold reserve. In 1976, countries abandoned the gold standard. Now the value of the currency began to depend on the demand for it.

Interesting facts about the US dollar

A few notable facts about the dollar:

• The dollar is the official currency not only in the United States, but also in El Salvador, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, and the Marshall Islands.
• There is a slang name for dollars, “bucks”, which comes from the name of the hide of a male deer - “buck”. They were a valuable item of trade among the Indians. They were exchanged for goods: ammunition, salt, alcohol.
• Dollars are made from linen and cotton. Synthetic fibers in blue and red colors are added to the material. The paper for these bills is made by only one company in the entire world. The dye formula is a state secret.
• The dollar is protected in five levels: watermarks, a solid thread sewn into the paper, two small seals, concentric lines, a color-changing element, and a magnetic stripe.
• The dollars feature the faces of U.S. presidents. The $100 bill has a portrait of Benjamin Franklin. He did not hold the office of president of the United States, but participated in the founding of this country and his signature is in the Declaration of Independence.
• The only woman whose portrait is on the one dollar bill is March Washington, the wife of George Washington. This bill was issued in the late 19th century and is now worth over $1,500.
• The standard of what a dollar looks like is fixed back in 1929. In 2006, a U.S. federal court ruled to change the design of the dollar so that the banknotes could be conveniently used by blind people.

Dollar bills have an expiration date. For example, a $100 bill lasts for 5 years, while a $20 bill lasts for 25 months. This difference is because the smaller denomination banknote is used more often, so it wears out more quickly