U.S. dollar, U.S. dollar (USD)

U.S. dollar (world designation "$" or USD) - The official currency of the United States, as well as several other countries. It is one of the most popular currencies among traders, as well as widely used reserve currencywhose role has always been high. Federal ReserveThe U.S. Central Bank controls the issuance of banknotes.

Coins and bills

$1 contains 100 cents. At the moment, banknotes in $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, as well as coins of 1 cent (penny), 5 cents (nickel), 10 cents (dime), 25 cents (quarter), 50 cents (half) and $1.

In addition, $500, $1000, $5000, $10,000 banknotes exist and can be used as a means of payment. They are now mostly rarities, so their bonistic value is much higher than their face value. These banknotes were withdrawn from circulation in 1967 due to the introduction and popularization of electronic bank payments - the use of banknotes of such a large denomination became impractical.

The absolute leader in the face value of the banknote was $100,000, but in the hands of ordinary people it never got, because it was used exclusively for internal calculations of financial state structures.

By 2016, the plan is to completely withdraw from circulation bills of 1 and 2 dollars and replace them with coins.

Appearance of the U.S. dollar

Design dollars of different denominations is familiar to us, but it is worth noting that it was first approved in 1928. All of the banknotes bear portraits of the presidents of the United States on one side and illustrations of historical events on the other.

The most interesting and controversial has always been the 1 bill US dollaror, more precisely, the image of double-sided printing on its reverse side. If we examine them more closely, we see: 13 stripes on the eagle's shield, an olive branch with 13 tassels and 13 arrows in its paws, 13 stars in a cloud above the eagle's head, 13 steps in a truncated pyramid (since the United States was originally divided into 13 states), Roman numerals MDCCLXXVI signifying the number 1776 (year of the Declaration of Independence) the cut off top of the pyramid with the inscribed "All-Seeing Eye" symbol (a very ancient religious symbol), the Latin inscriptions "E pluribus unum" ("Unity in Diversity"), "Annuit Coeptis" ("He approves our deeds") and "Novus Ordo Seclorum" ("Order of the New Age") - quotations borrowed from Virgil's Aeneid and symbolizing the coming "American Era". All of these symbols are characteristic of Freemasonry, which is of additional interest to the public.

So why is it green?

Also interesting is the fact why the dollar turned green. The answer is quite simple - because of photo spread.

In the 1970s, the development of photography made it easy to reproduce the then black and white banknotes, in which the green color was used minimally at the edges. It was necessary to protect the population from the activated counterfeiters. Since the green dye was already purchased, it was decided not to "reinvent the wheel" and use it as a base. As a result, the familiar dollar became green.

Later on the banknotes dollar appeared pinkish and yellow shades, the latest version of the $100 bill, which will come into circulation on February 10, 2011, even has distinct orange colors. Nevertheless, the slang name "green" is sure to characterize U.S. currency for a long time to come.

The dollar - aka "the buck"

In everyday speech we often call the U.S. dollar a "buck," and many believe that this name is typical only for the Russian-speaking population of the globe. I hasten to distress you (or please, whichever way you look at it), there are at least four assumptions how this word appeared, and none of them is close to us.

According to the first version, the word "buck" comes from the word "buckskin" or male deer hideIt was the main object of exchange with the Indians, i.e., it actually played the role of money.

According to the second version, "buck" comes from another English word Sawbuck or sawbuck for sawing firewoodwhich was very similar to the image of the Roman numeral X on the back of the ten-dollar bill.

A third version, mythical, associates bucks with the name of the ancient god Bacchus or Dionysus.

And the fourth version is based on the appearance of the back of U.S. bank notes, which had a green color. They became commonly known as Green backs or "green backs.". The first part of the expression eventually fell away, and the dollar was simply called backs.

Protecting the dollar and its secrets

US dollar - one of the world's most popular currencies among counterfeiters. Therefore, the banknote of each denomination is updated approximately every 7-10 years, with the most advanced security technologies used in its creation, and all previous versions retain their solvency until they are completely removed from circulation.

Average weight per banknoteThe paper used for the dollar is 1 gram, regardless of its denomination. The paper that goes into making the dollar consists of 25% linen and 75% cotton threads, and is reinforced with synthetic fibers so it won't yellow over time and won't crack for long. It takes about 4,000 times for a dollar bill to go bad or tear.

The longest-living dollar bills are the $100 bills. They last an average of 60 months. The fastest time for $1 bills to fail is after 22 months.

Dollar and Forex

On the currency Forex market dollar plays, perhaps, the most important role. It is not for nothing that all currency pairs, which include USD, are called major or "majors". After the abolition of the gold standard, the dollar actually became a substitute for metal, taking the role of a certain reference point for the value of other world currencies.

The U.S. dollar accounts for the largest volume of transactions on exchanges every day. In addition, no matter what the economic state of America is, stock traders always consider the greenback hedging currencyThis was also proven by the financial crisis.

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