History UsefulNotes / AmericanMoney

* Prices in dollars and cents are written with a decimal point; e.g., $4.35 means 4 dollars and 35 cents. A zero at the end of the decimal is never dropped, so 4 dollars and 50 cents would be written not as $4.5, as though it were a proper fraction, but always as $4.50.

* 1 dollar (UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington again); The most common bank note; far more popular than one-dollar coins. Often referred to as a "single", a "one", or simply a "buck". It retains its older design (black-on-white front; small, centered portrait; no highly-visible anti-counterfeiting features) and no longer "matches" higher denomination bills.

* 1 dollar (UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington again); The most common bank note; far more popular than one-dollar coins. Often referred to as a "single", a "one", or simply a "buck".

A dollar is sometimes called a "buck," in the same way a British pound sterling is called a "quid." It got this slang name because, when the dollar was formally introduced in 1792, it was worth about as much as a deerskin, which were a kind of unofficial currency out in the wilderness.

* ¢: Cents. Appears ''after'' the number. Used instead of, not in addition to, the dollar sign, and only if an integer number of cents are specified (rather than a decimal value of dollars). Almost ''never'' used these days, as (thanks to inflation) most goods worth buying cost more than a dollar. Even as early as the 1960s, when computer character sets were becoming standardized, neither the ASCII nor the EBCDIC character set contained a cents sign (American computer keyboards replaced it with the caret, i.e, ^). [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Windows]] allows you to access it (relatively) quickly by holding down ALT and typing "0162" on the number pad; on [[UsefulNotes/MacOS an Apple keyboard]], type Option-Shift-4.

Before the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, it was common in multiple world currencies to physically slice a dollar (or equivalent) coin into eight ''bits'' worth 12.5 cents each. The highly popular Spanish Milled Dollar, as already mentioned, was worth eight Spanish Reals -- which was why pirates called them "pieces of eight". Slicing it into 8 pieces produced 8 bits worth one Real apiece. The "bit" denomination has survived today primarily in colloquialism: a ShaveAndAHaircut cost a quarter of a dollar, or "two bits", as advertised by barbershop quartets. This convention of dividing a dollar into 8 pieces also persisted in the Stock Market all the way through the 1980s; if you watch an older movie with the Stock Market in it, you'll see stock prices like "11 5/8" dollars per share.

It's worth noting that Canadian coins come in the same size, color, and denominations as Americans until you get to one dollar. The dollar coin, called a "Loonie" because of the loon bird picture on one of its faces. Unlike the American efforts, the Canadian government moved decisively to get it accepted, such as giving it a golden colour to make it look valuable while immediately discontinuing the $1 paper bank note; as a result, the Canadian public quickly accepted it without hesitation. They also have a $2-coin called a "toonie" that's bimetallic, with a central disc of a brass alloy encased in a silvery-colored outer ring. They're traditionally worth less and weigh less than American coins but are usually interchangeable to all but the most nitpicky cashiers and vending machines, and they draw less attention from cashiers the closer you get to the Canadian border. In some border states (e. g. Michigan) it's not unusual for up to half the change in a local's pocket to be Canadian. In addition, the Canadian government, recognizing the worthlessness of the penny nowadays, discontinued it in February 2013.[[note]]over the past few years Canadian currency has appreciated considerably relative to US currency, with the result that at certain points in the recent past (e.g. in November 2012) the Canadollar is actually worth slightly MORE than a US greenback (about 1 mill more, in fact; 1 USD = 0.999 CAN); since then, the exchange rate has stabilized such that the US dollar is usually worth slightly more than the Canadian, or the Canadian slightly more than the American, depending on the day of the week and the whims of the market. In practice, there's ceased to be any difference, and there are certain touristy places in Canada that take US money at par with Canadian. The U.S. dollar is still worth more than the New Zealand dollar, though.[[/note]]

There were also 3¢, 5¢, 10¢, 15¢, 25¢, 50¢, $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 bills in circulation at one time, but they are no longer used and essentially never seen outside of collections. A famous (though sadly no longer existing) collection was a set of $10,000 bills on display at a Las Vegas casino to visually depict exactly what one million dollars looked like. $100,000 bills were used to settle accounts between banks, but were never released outside the banking system.

Most U.S. coins show the year of issue somewhere on the face. The exceptions include newer quarters, which have it on the back, and the 1976 Bicentennial quarters, half-dollars and dollar coins, which replaced the heads-side year-mark with a dual-year "1776-1976" numbering. (The special Bicentennial coins were actually minted during the years 197'''5''' ''and'' 1976, which is the reason why catalogs that offer "one coin of each denomination from a year of your choice" often state they can't offer a set from 1975.)

'''50-cent pieces:''' Officially called the half dollar. At some points in American history, this coin was actually more popular than the quarter. Like the dime and quarter, it was made of 90% silver until 1965, but unlike the dime and quarter it switched to a "copper-silver clad" configuration in 1965, resulting in people hoarding them in anticipation of rising silver prices. The composition switched to the same copper-nickel clad configuration as the dime and quarter in 1971, but by then it was too late. The coin fell almost completely out of favor, and to this day no vending machines (other than post office vending machines) accept the half dollar coin any more. It's had UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy's profile on the front since 1964, the year after his assassination. Before then, it had featured a profile of Creator/BenjaminFranklin, whose likeness still graces the $100 bill to this day. The half-dollar coin features an eagle on the tails-side, or Independence Hall on the Bicentennial issue.

'''Dollar coins:''' Officially called the dollar. Prior to 1979, it was a ''huuuuge'' honkin' coin, with twice the weight of a 50-cent piece; this was due to its legacy of being made out of 90% silver, just like the dime, quarter, and half dollar were. To this day, these old large-sized dollar coins are still called "silver dollars", even though they were last made of silver in 1935 with the final issue of the "Peace Dollar" design. In 1971, a new dollar coin was released with the heads-side profile of UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower and a tails-side design based on the [[SpaceRace Apollo 11 mission patch]]. Like the above-mentioned quarter and half-dollar coins, the Eisenhower dollar coin was composed of a copper/nickel "sandwich." The Bicentennial commemorative design featured a likeness of the Liberty Bell superimposed on an image of the moon. Starting in 1979, a new, smaller dollar coin appeared sporting Susan B. Anthony's profile on the front. These were not only about the same size as a quarter, they also had the same copper-nickel clad construction and reeded edge as a quarter, making them easy to confuse in loose change. In 2000, the mint attempted to remedy this by introducing the "gold" (really manganese brass) dollar coin with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea Sacagawea]][[note]]Her name is pronounced with a hard G-sound, like the G in "get", not like the G in "gem"[[/note]] pictured on the front. By this time, though, most Americans had gotten out of the habit of carrying change pouches around, and eminently preferred the paper dollar, so even this new easy-to-distinguish dollar coin never caught on. From 2007-2011, an attempt was made to revive interest in this coin by putting all of the U.S. presidents on them in chronological order so as to release a series with the intent being to use coin-collecting as a hobby to garner public support for the $1 coin, but this worked ''too'' well when people showed more interest in collecting the series than in using it [[GoneHorriblyRight as money]] and the program stopped at UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield. (Instead of issuing to general circulation, starting with UsefulNotes/ChesterAArthur, the remainder of the coins in the series are to be minted for collectable purposes only.) The presidential $1 coin series are the first ever American coinage to feature lettering/numbering engraved on the coin's edge that is neither on the heads-side nor the tails-side of the coin.

'''Dimes:''' Officially called the dime. That's right. "Dime" is an official currency unit in the Federal monetary system, just like "dollar" and "cent" are. The word comes from the French ''disme'', meaning tenth -- it's one-tenth of a dollar, or ten cents. Until 1965, dimes were composed of 90% silver, which is why they are smaller than nickels and pennies. It's also why the coin has a "reeded edge" -- the vertical grooves carved into the edge made it easy to tell if someone had shaved a little bit of silver off the outside of the coin. The dime has had UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's profile on the front since 1946, a year after he died, and a tails-side design derived from the Roosevelt family coat-of-arms; prior to that, they had the head of Mercury [[Myth/ClassicalMythology (in his role as the Roman god of commerce)]]. It has Roosevelt because as President he created the March of Dimes, a charity organization where people would donate dimes to help support polio research and give money to families whose children had polio. Roosevelt famously lost the use of his legs to the disease when he was 39.

As an artifact of their origins as bullion, the dime, quarter, half-dollar, and "large" (Peace/Eisenhower) dollar coin are interchangeable by weight. In other words, ten dimes, four quarters, two half dollars, and one dollar coin all have the same currency value ($1) and the same weight (24.624 grams when they were 90% silver, 22.68 grams with the current copper/nickel composition).

'''Dollar coins:''' Officially called the dollar. Prior to 1979, it was a ''huuuuge'' honkin' coin, with twice the weight of a 50-cent piece; this was due to its legacy of being made out of 90% silver, just like the dime, quarter, and half dollar were. To this day, these old large-sized dollar coins are still called "silver dollars", even though they were last made of silver in 1935 with the final issue of the "Peace Dollar" design. In 1971, a new dollar coin was released with the heads-side profile of UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower and a tails-side design based on the [[SpaceRace Apollo 11 mission patch]]. The Bicentennial commemorative design featured a likeness of the Liberty Bell superimposed on an image of the moon. Starting in 1979, a new, smaller dollar coin appeared sporting Susan B. Anthony's profile on the front. These were not only about the same size as a quarter, they also had the same copper-nickel clad construction and reeded edge as a quarter, making them easy to confuse in loose change. In 2000, the mint attempted to remedy this by introducing the "gold" (really manganese brass) dollar coin with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea Sacagawea]][[note]]Her name is pronounced with a hard G-sound, like the G in "get", not like the G in "gem"[[/note]] pictured on the front. By this time, though, most Americans had gotten out of the habit of carrying change pouches around, and eminently preferred the paper dollar, so even this new easy-to-distinguish dollar coin never caught on. From 2007-2011, an attempt was made to revive interest in this coin by putting all of the U.S. presidents on them in chronological order so as to release a series with the intent being to use coin-collecting as a hobby to garner public support for the $1 coin, but this worked ''too'' well when people showed more interest in collecting the series than in using it [[GoneHorriblyRight as money]] and the program stopped at UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield. (Instead of issuing to general circulation, starting with UsefulNotes/ChesterAArthur, the remainder of the coins in the series are to be minted for collectable purposes only.) The presidential $1 coin series are the first ever American coinage to feature lettering/numbering engraved on the coin's edge that is neither on the heads-side nor the tails-side of the coin.

'''Dollar coins:''' Officially called the dollar. Prior to 1979, it was a ''huuuuge'' honkin' coin, with twice the weight of a 50-cent piece; this was due to its legacy of being made out of 90% silver, just like the dime, quarter, and half dollar were. To this day, these old large-sized dollar coins are still called "silver dollars", even though they were last made of silver in 1935 with the final issue of the "Peace Dollar" design. In 1971, a new dollar coin was released with the heads-side profile of UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower and a tails-side design based on the [[SpaceRace Apollo 11 mission patch]]. The Bicentennial commemorative design featured a likeness of the Liberty Bell superimposed on an image of the moon. Starting in 1979, a new, smaller dollar coin appeared sporting Susan B. Anthony's profile on the front. These were not only about the same size as a quarter, they also had the same copper-nickel clad construction and reeded edge as a quarter, making them easy to confuse in loose change. In 2000, the mint attempted to remedy this by introducing the "gold" (really manganese brass) dollar coin featuring Sacagawea's picture on the front. By this time, though, most Americans had gotten out of the habit of carrying change pouches around, and eminently preferred the paper dollar, so even this new easy-to-distinguish dollar coin never caught on. From 2007-2011, an attempt was made to revive interest in this coin by putting all of the U.S. presidents on them in chronological order so as to release a series with the intent being to use coin-collecting as a hobby to garner public support for the $1 coin, but this worked ''too'' well when people showed more interest in collecting the series than in using it [[GoneHorriblyRight as money]] and the program stopped at UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield. The presidential $1 coin series are the first ever American coinage to feature lettering/numbering engraved on the coin's edge that is neither on the heads-side nor the tails-side of the coin.

'''Dollar coins:''' Officially called the dollar. Prior to 1979, it was a ''huuuuge'' honkin' coin, with twice the weight of a 50-cent piece; this was due to its legacy of being made out of 90% silver, just like the dime, quarter, and half dollar were. To this day, these old large-sized dollar coins are still called "silver dollars", even though they were last made of silver in 1935 with the final issue of the "Peace Dollar" design. In 1971, a new dollar coin was released with the heads-side profile of UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower and a tails-side design based on the [[SpaceRace Apollo 11 mission patch]]. The Bicentennial commemorative design featured a likeness of the Liberty Bell superimposed on an image of the moon. Starting in 1979, a new, smaller dollar coin appeared sporting Susan B. Anthony's profile on the front. These were not only about the same size as a quarter, they also had the same copper-nickel clad construction and reeded edge as a quarter, making them easy to confuse in loose change. In 2000, the mint attempted to remedy this by introducing the "gold" (really manganese brass) dollar coin featuring Sacagawea's picture on the front. By this time, though, most Americans had gotten out of the habit of carrying change pouches around, and eminently preferred the paper dollar, so even this new easy-to-distinguish dollar coin never caught on. From 2007-2011, an attempt was made to revive interest in this coin by putting all of the U.S. presidents on them in chronological order so as to release a series with the intent being to use coin-collecting as a hobby to garner public support for the $1 coin, but this worked ''too'' well when people showed more interest in collecting the series than in using it [[GoneHorriblyRight as money]] and the program stopped at James A. Garfield.

'''Pennies''': Officially called the cent. Each cent is one one hundredth of a dollar, and comes in the form of a small coin formerly made of bronze, but since 1981 made of zinc with a copper coating. In the early 1800s the one-cent piece was a very large coin, mid-way in size between the quarter and the half-dollar, but by the 1850s copper had become valuable enough that there was now more than a cent's worth of copper in a one-cent coin -- the solution was to shrink it to its modern size, add 12% nickel to "make up for" the sharp reduction in size, and then remove this added nickel content a few years later when no one was looking. As copper became even more expensive, a proposal to switch to an aluminum cent was made in 1974; over a million were struck, but the release was cancelled due to a drop in copper prices, complaints from vending machine manufacturers who feared would mistake the new pennies for higher-value coins and jam their machines, and warnings from pediatricians that a swallowed aluminum coin would be difficult to detect via X-rays. In 1981 the all-copper composition was replaced with copper-coated zinc, but the spectre of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigniorage negative seigniorage]] faces the coin again today as even the price of zinc now outstrips the value of the penny. It's had Abraham Lincoln's profile on the front since 1909 (the 100th anniversary of his birth), when it replaced the classic "Indian Head" penny. The back has held various designs over that same period; the "wheat ear" design (1909-1958), the Lincoln Memorial (1958-2008), four images celebrating Lincoln's life and accomplishments for his bicentennial (2009), and the current "Union Shield" (2010-).

The change from bronze to copper-plated zinc in 1981 occurred because, thanks to inflation and the demand for copper to make electrical wires, the bronze cent contained ''more'' than one cent's worth of metal. As of 2013, even zinc is now worth more than the face value of the cent. American voters are highly resistant to getting rid of the penny, so even cheaper materials are currently under investigation. In the mean time, U.S. law forbids these coins from being melted down, or from being shipped overseas in large quantities.

'''Nickels:''' Officially called the nickel five-cent piece, to distinguish it from nickel three-cent pieces minted in the 1800s. Despite its name, 75% of its weight is made out of copper -- only 25% is actual nickel metal. It's had Thomas Jefferson on the front since 1938 (replacing the "Buffalo Nickel"). The back has shown Jefferson's home, Monticello, for that entire period except during 2004 and 2005, when a set of four "Westward Journey" commemorative designs were used to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition that Jefferson authorized.

'''Dimes:''' Officially called the dime. That's right. "Dime" is an official currency unit in the Federal monetary system, just like "dollar" and "cent" are. The word comes from the French ''disme'', meaning tenth -- it's one-tenth of a dollar, or ten cents. Until 1965, dimes were composed of 90% silver, which is why they are smaller than nickels and pennies. It's also why the coin has a "reeded edge" -- the vertical grooves carved into the edge made it easy to tell if someone had shaved a little bit of silver off the outside of the coin. The dime has had Franklin Delano Roosevelt's profile on the front since 1946, a year after he died, and a tails-side design derived from the Roosevelt family coat-of-arms; prior to that, they had the head of Mercury [[Myth/ClassicalMythology (in his role as the Roman god of commerce)]].

'''Quarters:''' Officially called the quarter dollar, worth 25 cents. Until 1965, quarters were composed of 90% silver, but today they're "copper-nickel clad", meaning they have an inner layer of copper "clad" in two outer layers of the same alloy that the nickel coin (above) is made of. It's had George Washington's profile on the front since 1938, which replaced the "Standing Liberty" design. Until 1999, these coins featured an eagle on the tails-side except for the Bicentennial coins which instead featured a likeness of a Colonial drummer, along with a flaming torch surrounded by 13 five-pointed stars representing the original thirteen colonies. Starting in 1999, a series of multiple tails-side designs commemorating each of the fifty states were issued, followed subsequently by a 51st design for WashingtonDC and a quintet of designs following that to provide one for each of the five United States territories populous enough to merit non-voting Congressional representatives: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Once those series were completed, a (still ongoing) series of designs commemorating the United States' National Parks was introduced. These coin series were introduced in hopes of promoting public interest in coin collecting, and have proven wildly successful in that regard.

'''50-cent pieces:''' Officially called the half dollar. At some points in American history, this coin was actually more popular than the quarter. Like the dime and quarter, it was made of 90% silver until 1965, but unlike the dime and quarter it switched to a "copper-silver clad" configuration in 1965, resulting in people hoarding them in anticipation of rising silver prices. The composition switched to the same copper-nickel clad configuration as the dime and quarter in 1971, but by then it was too late. The coin fell almost completely out of favor, and to this day no vending machines (other than post office vending machines) accept the half dollar coin any more. It's had John F. Kennedy's profile on the front since 1964, the year after his assassination. Before then, it had featured a profile of Benjamin Franklin, whose likeness still graces the $100 bill to this day. The half-dollar coin features an eagle on the tails-side, or Independence Hall on the Bicentennial issue.

-->''"The buck stops here."''

''See also'' the article on UsefulNotes/AmericanCurrency, which evolved independently.

'''Quarters:''' Officially called the quarter dollar, worth 25 cents. Until 1965, quarters were composed of 90% silver, but today they're "copper-nickel clad", meaning they have an inner layer of copper "clad" in two outer layers of the same alloy that the nickel coin (above) is made of. It's had George Washington's profile on the front since 1938, which replaced the "Standing Liberty" design. Until 1999, these coins featured an eagle on the tails-side except for the bicentennial commemorative design used on the tails-side coins minted in 197'''5''' through 1976 (even though the bicentennial year was strictly ''only'' '76) which instead featured a likeness of a Colonial drummer, along with a flaming torch surrounded by 13 five-pointed stars representing the original thirteen colonies, those commemorative coins replaced the heads-side year-mark with a dual-year "1776-1976" numbering. Starting in 1999, a series of multiple tails-side designs commemorating each of the fifty states were issued, followed subsequently by a 51st design for WashingtonDC and a quintet of designs following that to provide one for each of the five United States territories populous enough to merit non-voting Congressional representatives: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Once those series were completed, a (still ongoing) series of designs commemorating the United States' National Parks was introduced. These coin series were introduced in hopes of promoting public interest in coin collecting, and have proven wildly successful in that regard.

'''50-cent pieces:''' Officially called the half dollar. At some points in American history, this coin was actually more popular than the quarter. Like the dime and quarter, it was made of 90% silver until 1965, but unlike the dime and quarter it switched to a "copper-silver clad" configuration in 1965, resulting in people hoarding them in anticipation of rising silver prices. The composition switched to the same copper-nickel clad configuration as the dime and quarter in 1971, but by then it was too late. The coin fell almost completely out of favor, and to this day no vending machines (other than post office vending machines) accept the half dollar coin any more. It's had John F. Kennedy's profile on the front since 1964, the year after his assassination. Before then, it had featured a profile of Benjamin Franklin, whose likeness still graces the $100 bill to this day. The half-dollar coin features an eagle on the tails-side except for the bicentennial commemorative design used on the tails-side coins minted in 197'''5''' through 1976 (even though the bicentennial year was strictly ''only'' '76) consisting of Independence Hall, those commemorative coins replaced the heads-side year-mark with a dual-year "1776-1976" numbering.

'''Dollar coins:''' Officially called the dollar. Prior to 1979, it was a ''huuuuge'' honkin' coin, with twice the weight of a 50-cent piece; this was due to its legacy of being made out of 90% silver, just like the dime, quarter, and half dollar were. To this day, these old large-sized dollar coins are still called "silver dollars", even though they were last made of silver in 1935 with the final issue of the "Peace Dollar" design. In 1971, a new dollar coin was released with the heads-side profile of UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower and a tails-side design based on the [[SpaceRace Apollo 11 mission patch]] except for the bicentennial commemorative design used on the tails-side coins minted in 197'''5''' through 1976 (even though the bicentennial year was strictly ''only'' '76) featuring a likeness of the Liberty Bell superimposed on an image of the moon, those commemorative coins replaced the heads-side year-mark with a dual-year "1776-1976" numbering. Starting in 1979, a new, smaller dollar coin appeared sporting Susan B. Anthony's profile on the front. These were not only about the same size as a quarter, they also had the same copper-nickel clad construction and reeded edge as a quarter, making them easy to confuse in loose change. In 2000, the mint attempted to remedy this by introducing the "gold" (really manganese brass) dollar coin featuring Sacagawea's picture on the front. By this time, though, most Americans had gotten out of the habit of carrying change pouches around, and eminently preferred the paper dollar, so even this new easy-to-distinguish dollar coin never caught on. From 2007-2011, an attempt was made to revive interest in this coin by putting all of the U.S. presidents on them in chronological order so as to release a series with the intent being to use coin-collecting as a hobby to garner public support for the $1 coin, but this worked ''too'' well when people showed more interest in collecting the series than in using it [[GoneHorriblyRight as money]] and the program stopped at James A. Garfield.

Paper money, called “bills” in the U.S., start at the dollar. One-dollar coins exist, but the paper one-dollar bill is far more popular. The next denomination up is the little-used $2 bill, which can sometimes lead to confusion as the younger generation does not always recognize it as legal tender. Next are the $5 and $10 bills. The $20 bill is probably the most commonly used in basic transactions, being the standard bill for ATM bank withdrawals, and is also known as a “yuppie food stamp.” Next up are the $50 and $100 bills. They're easy to misplace, what with being a thin strip of cottony paper, so don't! Unlike some other countries, American bills are all the same size and until recently all the same color (Black on white on the front. Green on white on the back. Hence greenbacks) In recent years redesigns have made some bills slightly more colorful as part of anti-counterfeiting measures, though still nowhere as colorful as Euro (or Canadian) bills.[[note]]Many Americans call Canadian bills especially "Monopoly Money" because the fake money used in the board game is also distinctively colored by denomination.[[/note]] With the exception of the $10 and $100 dollar bill, all the US bills depict presidents of the United States, and the term "Dead Presidents" is a common colloquialism for money.

There were also 3¢, 5¢, 10¢, 15¢, 25¢, 50¢, $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 bills in circulation at one time, but they are no longer used and essentially never seen outside of collections - a famous (though sadly no longer existing) collection was a set of $10,000 bills on display at a Las Vegas casino to visually depict exactly what one million dollars looked like. $100,000 bills were used to settle accounts between banks, but were never released outside the banking system.

United States Notes, and Federal Reserve Notes before 1963, were redeemable in “lawful money,” which was never defined by Congress; the only difference between these two types of paper money was that one was issued directly by the U.S. Treasury and was severely limited in the amount issued, and the other was issued by the Federal Reserve, the United State's decentralized central bank. Additionally, there were ''National Bank Notes'', bills issued by federally chartered banks that were backed by bonds deposited with the Treasury. After 1929, when US bills were shrunk to their current size and designs standardized for all five types, the color of the Treasury seal on the face could identify the type; gold certificates had yellow seals, silver certificates blue, US Notes red, Federal Reserve notes green and National Bank Notes brown.

Modern Federal Reserve Notes, which have been the only sort of paper money issued by the US Government since 1963, are ''fiat'' currency - their value is not backed by any hard resource, but by the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. Government. In other words: it's partially trust (that the United States won't disappear tomorrow and the US government will be able to pay back its debts) and fear (because if you refuse to accept Federal Reserve Notes, someone can sue you and order you to--this is what "legal tender" means).[[note]]It's a bit more complicated than that; you're allowed in certain circumstances to refuse to accept overly small amounts of cash (e.g. pennies) or overly large (e.g. 50s and 100s) as long as you clearly post that as a general policy, depending on what kind of business you're running.[[/note]]

'''Dollar coins:''' Officially called [[CaptainObvious the dollar]]. Prior to 1979, it was a ''huuuuge'' honkin' coin, with twice the weight of a 50-cent piece; this was due to its legacy of being made out of 90% silver, just like the dime, quarter, and half dollar were. To this day, these old large-sized dollar coins are still called "silver dollars", even though they were last made of silver in 1935 with the final issue of the "Peace Dollar" design. In 1971, a new dollar coin was released with the heads-side profile of UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower and a tails-side design based on the [[SpaceRace Apollo 11 mission patch]] except for the bicentennial commemorative design used on the tails-side coins minted in 197'''5''' through 1976 (even though the bicentennial year was strictly ''only'' '76) featuring a likeness of the Liberty Bell superimposed on an image of the moon, those commemorative coins replaced the heads-side year-mark with a dual-year "1776-1976" numbering. Starting in 1979, a new, smaller dollar coin appeared sporting Susan B. Anthony's profile on the front. These were not only about the same size as a quarter, they also had the same copper-nickel clad construction and reeded edge as a quarter, making them easy to confuse in loose change. In 2000, the mint attempted to remedy this by introducing the "gold" (really manganese brass) dollar coin featuring Sacagawea's picture on the front. By this time, though, most Americans had gotten out of the habit of carrying change pouches around, and eminently preferred the paper dollar, so even this new easy-to-distinguish dollar coin never caught on. From 2007-2011, an attempt was made to revive interest in this coin by putting all of the U.S. presidents on them in chronological order so as to release a series with the intent being to use coin-collecting as a hobby to garner public support for the $1 coin, but this worked ''too'' well when people showed more interest in collecting the series than in using it [[GoneHorriblyRight as money]] and the program stopped at James A. Garfield.

The dollar is subdivided into 100 individual units, called ''cents''. Each cent is in turn further divided into 10 ''mills'', a unit of currency largely rendered hypothetical through inflation (except in the price of gasoline, although property-tax rates are often expressed in mills, hence the name ''mill levy'', or if you're a Michigander, "millages"), of which there are 1000 in a dollar. The only physical representations of mills were the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_cent_%28United_States_coin%29 half-cent (or 5 mill) piece]] issued before the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar and "mill tokens" used for tax purposes and made of cheap metal, paper, or plastic (not to be confused with [[CompanyTown company scrip issued by cotton mills and other factories]]).

The dollar is subdivided into 100 individual units, called ''cents''. Each cent is in turn further divided into 10 ''mills'', a unit of currency largely rendered hypothetical through inflation (except in the price of gasoline, although property-tax rates are often expressed in mills, hence the name ''mill levy'', or if you're a Michigander, "millages"), of which there are 1000 in a dollar. The only physical representations of mills were the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_cent_%28United_States_coin%29 half-cent (or 5 mill) piece]] issued before the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar, "mill tokens" used for tax purposes and made of cheap metal, paper, or plastic (not to be confused with [[CompanyTown company scrip issued by cotton mills and other factories]]), and the [[ReadTheFinePrint "cash value less than 1/10 of 1 cent" message]] found on many coupons.

The dollar is subdivided into 100 individual units, called ''cents''. Each cent is in turn further divided into 10 ''mills'', a unit of currency largely rendered hypothetical through inflation (except in the price of gasoline, although property-tax rates are often expressed in mills, hence the name ''mill levy'', or if you're a Michigander, "millages"), of which there are 1000 in a dollar. The only physical representations of mills were the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_cent_%28United_States_coin%29 half-cent (or 5 mill) piece]] issued before the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar, "mill tokens" used or tax purposes and made of cheap metal, paper, or plastic (not to be confused with company scrip issued by cotton mills and other factories), and the [[ReadTheFinePrint "cash value less than 1/10 of 1 cent" message]] found on many coupons.

The dollar is subdivided into 100 individual units, called ''cents''. Each cent is in turn further divided into 10 ''mills'', a unit of currency largely rendered hypothetical through inflation (except in the price of gasoline, although property-tax rates are often expressed in mills, hence the name ''mill levy'', or if you're a Michigander, "millages"), of which there are 1000 in a dollar. The only physical representations of mills were the half-cent (or 5 mill) piece issued before the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar, "mill tokens" used or tax purposes and made of cheap metal, paper, or plastic (not to be confused with company scrip issued by cotton mills and other factories), and the [[ReadTheFinePrint "cash value less than 1/10 of 1 cent" message]] found on many coupons.

The dollar is subdivided into 100 individual units, called ''cents''. Each cent is in turn further divided into 10 ''mills'', a unit of currency largely rendered hypothetical through inflation (except in the price of gasoline, although property-tax rates are often expressed in mills, hence the name ''mill levy'', or if you're a Michigander, "millages"), of which there are 1000 in a dollar.

As a side note, in 1943 pennies were made of zinc-coated steel ("steelies") to save copper for [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the war effort]]. Literally a handful[[note]](40 at most)[[/note]] of copper 1943 cents were accidentally struck from copper blanks left in the stamping machines after the patterns were changed; the real ones are extremely valuable, but outnumbered by fakes made from copper-plated steelies or pennies from other years that had their dates altered.

'''Pennies''': Officially called the cent. Each cent is one one hundredth of a dollar, and comes in the form of a small coin formerly made of bronze, but since 1981 made of zinc with a copper coating. In the early 1800s the one-cent piece was a very large coin, mid-way in size between the quarter and the half-dollar, but by the 1850s copper had become valuable enough that there was now more than a cent's worth of copper in a one-cent coin -- the solution was to shrink it to its modern size, add 12% nickel to "make up for" the sharp reduction in size, and then remove this added nickel content a few years later when no one was looking. A similar dilemma faced the coin in 1981, when almost all of the copper had to be replaced with (much cheaper) zinc, and is facing the coin again today as even the price of zinc now outstrips the value of the penny. It's had Abraham Lincoln's profile on the front since 1909 (the 100th anniversary of his birth), when it replaced the classic "Indian Head" penny. The back has held various designs over that same period; the "wheat ear" design (1909-1958), the Lincoln Memorial (1958-2008), four images celebrating Lincoln's life and accomplishments for his bicentennial (2009), and the current "Union Shield" (2010-).

The change from bronze to copper-plated zinc in 1981 occurred because, thanks to inflation and the demand for copper to make electrical wires, the bronze cent contained ''more'' than one cent's worth of metal.[[note]]A previous proposal to switch to an aluminum cent in 1974 failed due to a drop in copper prices, complaints from vending machine manufacturers who feared would mistake the new pennies for higher-value coins and jam their machines, and a warning from pediatricians that a swallowed aluminum coin would be difficult to detect via X-rays[[/note]] As of 2013, even zinc is now worth more than the face value of the cent. American voters are highly resistant to getting rid of the penny, so even cheaper materials are currently under investigation. In the mean time, U.S. law forbids these coins from being melted down, or from being shipped overseas in large quantities.

The change from bronze to copper-plated zinc in 1981 occurred because, thanks to inflation and the demand for copper to make electrical wires, the bronze cent contained ''more'' than one cent's worth of metal. As of 2013, even zinc is now worth more than the face value of the cent. American voters are highly resistant to getting rid of the penny, so even cheaper materials are currently under investigation. In the mean time, U.S. law forbids these coins from being melted down, or from being shipped overseas in large quantities.

* ¢: Cents. Appears ''after'' the number. Used instead of, not in addition to, the dollar sign, and only if an integer number of cents are specified (rather than a decimal value of dollars). Almost ''never'' used these days, as (thanks to inflation) most goods worth buying cost more than a dollar. Even as early as the 1960s, when computer character sets were becoming standardized, neither the ASCII nor the EBCDIC character set contained a cents sign (American computer keyboards replaced it with the caret, i.e, ^). [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Windows]] allows you to access it (relatively) quickly by holding down ALT and typing "0162" on the number pad.

'''Dollar coins:''' Officially called [[CaptainObvious the dollar]]. Prior to 1979, it was a ''huuuuge'' honkin' coin, with twice the weight of a 50-cent piece; this was due to its legacy of being made out of 90% silver, just like the dime, quarter, and half dollar were. To this day, these old large-sized dollar coins are still called "silver dollars", even though they were last made of silver in 1935 with the final issue of the "Peace" design. In 1971, a new dollar coin was released with the heads-side profile of UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower and a tails-side design based on the [[SpaceRace Apollo 11 mission patch]] except for the bicentennial commemorative design used on the tails-side coins minted in 197'''5''' through 1976 (even though the bicentennial year was strictly ''only'' '76) featuring a likeness of the Liberty Bell superimposed on an image of the moon, those commemorative coins replaced the heads-side year-mark with a dual-year "1776-1976" numbering. Starting in 1979, a new, smaller dollar coin appeared sporting Susan B. Anthony's profile on the front. These were not only about the same size as a quarter, they also had the same copper-nickel clad construction and reeded edge as a quarter, making them easy to confuse in loose change. In 2000, the mint attempted to remedy this by introducing the "gold" (really manganese brass) dollar coin featuring Sacagawea's picture on the front. By this time, though, most Americans had gotten out of the habit of carrying change pouches around, and eminently preferred the paper dollar, so even this new easy-to-distinguish dollar coin never caught on. From 2007-2011, an attempt was made to revive interest in this coin by putting all of the U.S. presidents on them in chronological order so as to release a series with the intent being to use coin-collecting as a hobby to garner public support for the $1 coin, but this worked ''too'' well when people showed more interest in collecting the series than in using it [[GoneHorriblyRight as money]] and the program stopped at James A. Garfield.

'''Dimes:''' Officially called the dime. That's right. "Dime" is an official currency unit in the Federal monetary system, just like "dollar" and "cent" are. The word comes from the French ''disme'', meaning tenth -- it's one-tenth of a dollar, or ten cents. Until 1965, dimes were composed of 90% silver, which is why they are smaller than nickels and pennies. It's also why the coin has a "reeded edge" -- the vertical grooves carved into the edge made it easy to tell if someone had shaved a little bit of silver off the outside of the coin. The dime has had Franklin Delano Roosevelt's profile on the front since 1946, a year after he died, and a tails-side design derived from the Roosevelt family coat-of-arms; prior to that, they had the head of Mercury (the Roman god of commerce).

As an artifact of their origins as bullion, the dime, quarter, half-dollar, and dollar are interchangeable by weight. In other words, ten dimes, four quarters, two half dollars, and one dollar coin all have the same currency value ($1) and the same weight (24.624 grams when they were 90% silver, 22.68 grams with the current copper/nickel composition).

'''Dimes:''' Officially called the dime. That's right. "Dime" is an official currency unit in the Federal monetary system, just like "dollar" and "cent" are. The word comes from the French ''disme'', meaning tenth -- it's one-tenth of a dollar, or ten cents. Until 1965, dimes were composed of 90% silver, which is why they are smaller than nickels and pennies. It's also why the coin has a "reeded edge" -- the vertical grooves carved into the edge made it easy to tell if someone had shaved a little bit of silver off the outside of the coin. The dime has had Franklin Delano Roosevelt's profile on the front since 1946, a year after he died, and a tails-side design derived from the Roosevelt family coat-of-arms.

'''Quarters:''' Officially called the quarter dollar, worth 25 cents. Until 1965, quarters were composed of 90% silver, but today they're "copper-nickel clad", meaning they have an inner layer of copper "clad" in two outer layers of the same alloy that the nickel coin (above) is made of. It's had George Washington's profile on the front since 1938. Until 1999, these coins featured an eagle on the tails-side except for the bicentennial commemorative design used on the tails-side coins minted in 197'''5''' through 1976 (even though the bicentennial year was strictly ''only'' '76) which instead featured a likeness of a Colonial drummer, along with a flaming torch surrounded by 13 five-pointed stars representing the original thirteen colonies, those commemorative coins replaced the heads-side year-mark with a dual-year "1776-1976" numbering. Starting in 1999, a series of multiple tails-side designs commemorating each of the fifty states were issued, followed subsequently by a 51st design for WashingtonDC and a quintet of designs following that to provide one for each of the five United States territories populous enough to merit non-voting Congressional representatives: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Once those series were completed, a (still ongoing) series of designs commemorating the United States' National Parks was introduced. These coin series were introduced in hopes of promoting public interest in coin collecting, and have proven wildly successful in that regard.

'''Dollar coins:''' Officially called [[CaptainObvious the dollar]]. Prior to 1979, it was a ''huuuuge'' honkin' coin, with twice the weight of a 50-cent piece; this was due to its legacy of being made out of 90% silver, just like the dime, quarter, and half dollar were. To this day, these old large-sized dollar coins are still called "silver dollars", even though they stopped being made out of silver in 1971, the same year that the design was changed to a heads-side profile of UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower with a tails-side design based on the [[SpaceRace Apollo 11 mission patch]] except for the bicentennial commemorative design used on the tails-side coins minted in 197'''5''' through 1976 (even though the bicentennial year was strictly ''only'' '76) featuring a likeness of the Liberty Bell superimposed on an image of the moon, those commemorative coins replaced the heads-side year-mark with a dual-year "1776-1976" numbering. Starting in 1979, a new, smaller dollar coin appeared sporting Susan B. Anthony's profile on the front. These were not only about the same size as a quarter, they also had the same copper-nickel clad construction and reeded edge as a quarter, making them easy to confuse in loose change. In 2000, the mint attempted to remedy this by introducing the "gold" (really manganese brass) dollar coin featuring Sacagawea's picture on the front. By this time, though, most Americans had gotten out of the habit of carrying change pouches around, and eminently preferred the paper dollar, so even this new easy-to-distinguish dollar coin never caught on. From 2007-2011, an attempt was made to revive interest in this coin by putting all of the U.S. presidents on them in chronological order so as to release a series with the intent being to use coin-collecting as a hobby to garner public support for the $1 coin, but this worked ''too'' well when people showed more interest in collecting the series than in using it [[GoneHorriblyRight as money]] and the program stopped at James A. Garfield.

Modern Federal Reserve Notes, which have been the only sort of paper money issued by the US Government since 1963, are ''fiat'' currency - their value is not backed by any hard resource, but by the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. Government.