The US dollar
Currency · USD · $ · 18 countries and territories
Congress created the dollar in the Coinage Act of 2 April 1792 and modelled it on the Spanish milled dollar. Federal Reserve notes have carried it since the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Beyond the states it is the money of five US territories, of three Pacific states in free association, and of Ecuador, El Salvador and Timor-Leste.
The sign
The United States adopted the sign in 1785. The accepted account traces it to ps, the scribal abbreviation for pesos, the Spanish dollars in circulation, as writers set the s over the p. Another reading derives it from the Pillars of Hercules wrapped in an S-shaped ribbon on Spanish coins.
The same sign stands for 28 other currencies, among them the East Caribbean dollar and the Australian dollar.
- ISO code
- USD
- ISO number
- 840
- Subunit
- cent, 1/100
An amount, written out
$1,234.50
- $1,234.50English, SpanishAmerican Samoa, British Virgin Islands +8
- $ 1.234,50DutchBonaire
- $1.234,50SpanishEcuador
- 1 234,50 $FrenchHaiti
- ١٬٢٣٤٫٥٠ US$ArabicPalestine
- 1234,50 $PortugueseTimor-Leste
In English the sign comes before the amount. Where the US dollar is used, it comes after in 2 countries and before in 12.
The sign in code
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, UTF-8
- HTML
$$$- CSS
content: "\0024";- JavaScript
"\u0024"- UTF-8
0x24- UTF-16
0x0024- UTF-32
0x00000024
Where the US dollar is the official currency
US territories use it as their sovereign's money and the Pacific Compact states by treaty. Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama and Timor-Leste adopted it, Haiti and Palestine list it beside other money, and British and Dutch Caribbean territories use it too.
- American Samoa
- BonaireCaribbean Netherlands
- British Virgin Islands
- Ecuador
- El SalvadorAlso legal tender: Salvadoran colón.
- GuamGuåhan
- HaitiAlso legal tender: Haitian gourde.
- Marshall Islands
- MicronesiaFederated States of Micronesia
- Northern Mariana IslandsNotte Mariånas
- Palau
- PalestineAlso legal tender: Israeli New shekel, Jordanian dinar.
- PanamaAlso legal tender: Panamanian balboa.
- Puerto Rico
- Timor-Leste
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- U.S. Virgin IslandsUnited States Virgin Islands
- United StatesEstados Unidus
Legal tender alongside it
About the US dollar
Who prints the notes and strikes the coins
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power "to coin money", and the laws that use that power sit in Title 31 of the US Code. Section 5103 makes US coins and currency legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes and dues.
The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 set up the Federal Reserve as the central bank, and the Federal Reserve Board issues the notes. The Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing makes them. It has designed, engraved and printed all US paper money since 1862, and its Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth, Texas, joined the Washington works in 1990. The paper is 75% cotton and 25% linen. Coins are a separate job, done by the United States Mint.
How the Spanish dollar became an American unit
Paper money came before the republic. The Massachusetts Bay Colony issued notes in 1690 to pay for military expeditions, and in 1775 the Continental Congress printed Continentals to fund the war against Britain. They lost value so fast that "not worth a Continental" entered the language.
The Coinage Act of 1792 defined the dollar as 371.25 grains of fine silver, taking the Spanish milled dollar as its pattern, and split it on decimal lines into mills, cents and dimes. Spanish coin stayed in American purses for decades. Spanish, Mexican and American dollars all remained legal tender in the United States until the Coinage Act of 1857.
Why other states hold it as their own money
American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are US territories and use the currency of the country they belong to. The Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau, once part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, use it under their Compacts of Free Association.
Ecuador took the dollar as its official currency, and so did El Salvador, where the ISO 4217 list still carries the colón beside it. Ecuador and Timor-Leste strike centavo coins of their own to go with US notes, and Panama does the same with balboa coins. The same list names the dollar beside the gourde in Haiti. The British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, both British Overseas Territories, use it too.
Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius, the Caribbean Netherlands, use it as well. In Palestine the 1994 Paris Protocol named no single currency and allowed the dollar to circulate with the Israeli shekel and the Jordanian dinar.
Zimbabwe uses the dollar without the ISO list naming it there. The country ran on foreign currencies for a decade before relaunching its own money in 2019. When it swapped that money for the Zimbabwe Gold in April 2024, more than four fifths of domestic transactions there were in foreign currency, and the central bank said the new unit would circulate alongside them.
What happened to gold and the old notes
The Treasury issued Demand Notes in 1861 to pay for the Civil War, and their green backs gave paper money the name greenbacks. United States Notes followed in 1862. Federal Reserve notes came after 1913. The Bureau says both kinds could be redeemed in gold until 1933, when the country left the gold standard, and no new United States Notes went into circulation after 1971.
In 1929 every Federal Reserve note shrank by about 30%, to 6.14 by 2.61 inches, and each denomination got one standard design. The $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 notes were discontinued on 14 July 1969 for lack of use. Nothing issued since 1861 has lost its face value.
Is the penny still worth making
The one-cent coin is worth so little that its place in circulation is debated. The Mint stopped striking pennies for circulation in 2025. Those already out there stay legal tender, because only an act of Congress can abolish a coin.
Common questions
Questions about the US dollar
Where outside the United States is the dollar legal tender?
Ecuador uses it as its official money, and El Salvador keeps the colón on the ISO list beside it. Timor-Leste and Panama strike coins of their own to go with US notes. The Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau use it under their Compacts of Free Association with the United States. In the Caribbean it is the currency of the British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Caribbean Netherlands, and Haiti lists it beside the gourde. The 1994 Paris Protocol allows it in Palestine alongside the shekel and the Jordanian dinar.
Why are dollar bills called greenbacks?
The name goes back to the Demand Notes the Treasury issued in 1861 to finance the Civil War. Their backs were printed in green ink, and people called them greenbacks. The nickname passed to the United States Notes of 1862 and stayed with American paper money after that.
Can an old $500 or $1,000 bill still be spent?
Yes, at face value. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury announced on 14 July 1969 that the $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 notes would be discontinued for lack of use, though none had been printed since 1945. Discontinued does not mean withdrawn: every US note issued since 1861 remains valid and redeemable at its full face value.
What is dollar paper made from?
Currency paper is 75% cotton and 25% linen, according to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The Bureau is the sole producer of US paper currency, and its works in Washington, D.C. and Fort Worth, Texas, print the Federal Reserve notes.
Is the US dollar backed by gold?
No. The dollar ran on a silver and gold standard from the Coinage Act of 1792, and the Gold Standard Act later tied it to gold alone. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says United States Notes and Federal Reserve notes could both be redeemed in gold until 1933, when the country abandoned the gold standard. In 1963 Congress also ended the redemption of currency in gold. Federal Reserve notes are legal tender by statute, under Section 5103 of Title 31.