Dollar (U.S.)
From Conservapedia
(Dollar redirects here; you may have been looking for Canadian Dollar or Australian Dollar)
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. It is also widely used as a reserve currency outside of the United States.
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Bimetallism
The Dollar grew out of the need for a single currency to unite the colonies. The creation of the dollar was authorized by the Continental Congress as a currency backed by both gold and silver. The fluctuations in the prices of gold and silver led to the decrease in the amount of metal exchangeable.
Following the Civil War, State's currencies were taxed out of existence and the Dollar became the medium exchange for the United States. After the Civil War, the United States experienced an extreme deflationary period, ending after the presidential campaign of 1896.
Eventually, the discovery of large silver deposits in the Western United States caused the price of silver to drop. Farming interests and borrowers wanted to continue the silver system which would build in inflation, allowing the easier payment of debts. Banking interests advocated switching to the Gold Standard, which could allow for some inflation by changing the gold to dollar ratio, but would make for a more stable dollar. This led to the populist "Cross of Gold" speech by William Jennings Bryant.
Gold standard
In the early 1970's, the trade deficit and inflation in the United States caused a run on the gold reserves used to back the United States dollar. This forced the United States to delink the value of the dollar from a specific amount of gold. Currently, the issuance of currency is controlled by the Federal Reserve Banking system, and the value of the dollar is set via trading in the foreign exchange (FOREX) market. Since the dollar is not 'backed' by a metal, it is termed a 'Fiat' currency.
The Dollar Bill
The current dollar bill designs are as follows:
- $1 George Washington on front, Great Seal on reverse
- $2 Thomas Jefferson on front, Signing of Declaration of Independence on reverse
- $5 Abraham Lincoln on front, Lincoln Memorial on reverse
- $10 Alexander Hamilton on front, US Treasury building on reverse
- $20 Andrew Jackson on front, White House on reverse
- $50 Ulysses S. Grant on front, US Capitol building on reverse
- $100 Benjamin Franklin on front, Independence Hall on reverse
The $2 bill is rarely used.
Dollar Coins
The United States Mint has produced dollar coins for circulation featuring:[1]
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (made 1971-1978)
- Susan B. Anthony (1979-1981, 1999)
- Sacagawea (2000-present)
- U.S. Presidents - a series of dollar coins featuring the presidents in chronological order (2007-present)
None of these have gained widespread acceptance. This may be due to the inconvenient nature of carrying coins in one's pocket.
