United States dollar

The dollar (currency code USD) is the unit of currency of the United States. It is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. The U.S. dollar is divided into 100 cents.

Adopted by the United States on July 6, 1785, the U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions. Several countries use the U.S. dollar as their official currency, and many others allow it to be used in a de facto capacity. In 1995, over US $380 billion were in circulation, two-thirds of which was outside the United States. By 2005, that figure had doubled to nearly $760 billion, with an estimated half to two-thirds being held overseas, representing an annual growth rate of about 7.6%. However, as of December 2006, the dollar was surpassed by the euro in terms of combined value of cash in circulation. The value of euro notes in circulation had risen to more than €610 billion, equivalent to US$802 billion at the exchange rates at the time.

Overview

The U.S. dollar uses the decimal system, consisting of 100 equal cents (symbol ¢). In another division, there are 1,000 mills or ten dimes to a dollar; additionally, the term eagle was used in the Coinage Act of 1792 for the denomination of ten dollars, and subsequently was used in naming gold coins. In the second half of the 19th century there were occasional discussions of creating a $50 gold coin, which was referred to as a "Half Union," thus implying a denomination of 1 Union = $100. However, only cents are in everyday use as divisions of the dollar; "dime" is used solely as the name of the coin with the value of 10¢, while "eagle" and "mill" are largely unknown to the general public, though mills are sometimes used in matters of tax levies and gasoline prices. When currently issued in circulating form, denominations equal to or less than a dollar are emitted as U.S. coins while denominations equal to or greater than a dollar are emitted as Federal Reserve notes (with the exception of gold, silver and platinum coins valued up to $100 as legal tender, but worth far more as bullion). (Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the note form is significantly more common.) In the past, paper money was occasionally issued in denominations less than a dollar (fractional currency) and gold coins were issued for circulation up to the value of 20 dollars.

U.S. coins are produced by the United States Mint. U.S. dollar banknotes are printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and, since 1914, have been issued by the Federal Reserve.

Coins of the United States

United States coinage was first minted by the new republic in 1792. New coins have been produced every year since then and they make up a valuable aspect of the United States currency system. Today circulating coins exist in denominations: $0.01, $0.05, $0.10, $0.25, $0.50, and $1.00. Also minted are bullion and commemorative coins. All of these are produced by the United States Mint. The coins are then sold to Federal Reserve Banks which in turn are responsible for putting coins into circulation and withdrawing them as demanded by the country's economy.

Current coinage

Today four mints operate in the United States producing billions of coins each year. The main mint is the Philadelphia Mint, which produces circulating coinage, mint sets and some commemorative coins. The Denver Mint also produces circulating coinage, mint sets and commemoratives. The San Francisco Mint produces regular and silver proof coinage. The West Point Mint produces bullion coinage (including proofs). Philadelphia and Denver produce the dies used at all of the mints. The proof and mint sets are manufactured each year and contain examples of all of the year's circulating coins. These and the other non-circulating coins can be purchased directly from the US Mint.

Remarks

   1. The mass and composition of the penny changed to the current copper plated zinc core in 1982. Both types were minted in 1982 with no distinguishing mark. Pennies minted in 1943 were struck on zinc coated steel cores, but are not found in circulation today.
   2. Wheat ear pennies were mainstream during its time. They are now rare, but findable in circulation.
   3. Dimes and quarters from before 1965 and half-dollars from before 1971 generally don't remain in circulation due to being removed for their silver content. The half-dollar retained a lower silver content between 1965 and 1970.
   4. In 1975 and 1976 bicentennial coinage was minted. Regardless of date of coining, each coin bears the dual date "1776-1976".
   5. Use of the Kennedy half-dollar, Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollars is not as widespread as that of other coins in general circulation. Coins are minted for general release through banks and other financial institutions, and are also available for collectors in uncirculated rolls, mint sets and proof sets from the United States Mint.
   6. The Presidential Dollar series will feature portraits of all deceased U.S. Presidents with four coin designs issued each year in the order of the president's inauguration date. These coins began circulating on February 15, 2007.
   7. The Susan B. Anthony dollar coin was minted from 1979-1981 and 1999. The 1999 minting was in response to Treasury supplies of the dollar becoming depleted and the inability to accelerate the minting of the Sacagawea dollars by a year. 1981 Anthony dollars can sometimes be found in circulation from proof sets that were broken-open, but these dollars were not minted with the intent that they circulate.

Bullion coins

Non-circulating bullion coins have been produced each year since 1986. They can be found in silver, gold and also platinum since 1997. The face value of these coins is symbolic and does not actually reflect the value of the precious metal contained therein.

Commemorative coins

Modern commemoratives have been minted since 1982.

Obsolete coins and denominations

    * Half cent: $0.005, copper
    * Large Cent: $0.01, copper
    * Two-cent piece: $0.02, copper
    * Three-cent piece: $0.03, silver and copper-nickel
    * Half dime: $0.05, silver
    * Twenty-cent piece: $0.20, silver
    * Silver dollar: $1.00, silver (some modern commemoratives are minted in this denomination)
    * Gold dollar: $1.00, gold
    * Quarter-eagle: $2.50, gold
    * Three-dollar piece: $3.00, gold
    * Stella: $4.00, gold (not circulated)
    * Half-eagle: $5.00, gold (some modern commemoratives are minted in this denomination)
    * Eagle: $10.00, gold (some modern commemoratives are minted in this denomination)
    * Double eagle: $20.00, gold
    * Half-union: $50.00 (Commemorative only, California territorial gold, pattern piece)

Note: It is a common misconception that "eagle"-based nomenclature for gold U.S. coinage was merely slang. This is not the case. The "eagle," "half-eagle" and "quarter-eagle" were specifically given these names in the Coinage Act of 1792. Likewise, the double eagle was specifically created as such by name ("An Act to authorize the Coinage of Gold Dollars and Double Eagles", title and section 1, March 3, 1849).

Some modern commemorative coins have been minted in the silver dollar, half-eagle and eagle denominations.

See also US coin sizes, showing all major US coin series and scaled images in a single chart.

The law governing obsolete, mutilated, and worn coins and currency, including denominations which are no longer in production (i.e. Indian cents) can be found in 31 USC 5120.

Criticisms

The values of current US coins are not inscribed in numerals on the coin. Instead the value is written in English words, presenting potential difficulties for visitors to the country who do not speak the language well or English speakers unfamiliar with the currency.[original research?] Furthermore, the coins' inscriptions do not follow a pattern in describing the value: "One Cent" (penny), "Five Cents" (nickel), "One Dime" (worth 10 cents), "Quarter Dollar" (worth 25 cents), and "Half Dollar" (worth 50 cents).

For historical reasons the size of the coins does not increase with their face value. Both the one cent and the five cent are larger than the ten cent and the less common 50 cent coin is larger than the recent Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony dollar coins. The sizes of the dime, quarter and half dollar are holdovers from before 1965 when they were made from 90% silver and 10% copper; their sizes thus depended upon the amount of silver needed to equal the face value. The diameter of the current dollar coins was introduced in 1979 with the Susan B. Anthony dollar not only as a concession to the vending machine industry which wanted a smaller dollar coin usable in their machines but also as an increase in the amount of seigniorage for the US Government (the difference between what a piece of money costs to produce and its face value or the "profit margin").