American money | USAGov (2024)

FAQs

What is American money called? ›

The United States dollar is the official currency of the U.S. Learn about the bills and coins that make up U.S. currency.

The $500 was officially discontinued by the U.S. Congress in 1969, although the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) has not printed one since 1945. While it is still a legal tender, a $500 bill could be worth much more than its face value. Today, they are mainly in the collections of numismatists or investors.

Just as this $10,000 bill, produced in 1918, is rare, the likeness on the front might be unfamiliar. It shows Salmon P. Chase, who served as President Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury from 1861 to 1864.

All these bills except one featured presidents: William McKinley on the $500, Grover Cleveland on the $1,000, and James Madison on the $5,000. Salmon Chase, a nonpresident, was featured on the $10,000 bill; he was secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln and chief justice of the Supreme Court.

"C-note" is used less frequently in contemporary slang, and it has been replaced by "Benjamin." This term comes from Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the U.S., whose portrait is on the front of the $100 banknote. Other slang terms for a $100 bill are, therefore, "Franklins" and "Bens."

Dollar amounts are all also referred to as bucks. A five-dollar note is known colloquially as a fin, a fiver, half a sawbuck. A ten-dollar note is known colloquially as a ten-spot, a dixie, a sawbuck, or a tenner.

Unless it has a unique feature, like a low serial number or misprint, a newer $2 bill likely isn't worth much more than $2, even if it's uncirculated.

The note is considered uncommon but not rare. U.S. Currency Auctions estimates that uncirculated $2 bills from 1890 could sell for up to $4,500, and uncirculated bills from nearly every year between 1862 and 1917 for at least $1,000.

While a $3 bill doesn't officially exist in U.S. currency, novelty versions have been created for amusem*nt. These often feature personalities that aren't on standard currency, like President Barack Obama or even fictional characters.

Today, the general public is still largely unfamiliar with the notes because they are not widely circulated and continue to be hoarded. The common misconception that the $2 note is no longer being produced also remains, though $2 notes have been printed since 1862, except for a 10-year hiatus between 1966 and 1976.

What is a $1 silver certificate worth? ›

What Is a Silver Certificate Dollar Bill Worth Today? These certificates no longer carry monetary value as an exchange for silver, yet they are still legal tender at their face value.

No, there is no official million-dollar bill in circulation, nor has one ever been commissioned by the Federal Reserve. While some novelty items or fake bills may feature a picture of a million-dollar bill, they hold no value and cannot be used as legal tender.

The front of the $2 bill features a portrait of Thomas Jefferson, a founding father and the third U.S. President.

Whose picture is on the US one million dollar bill? There is no such thing as a U.S. one-million-dollar bill. That is, there are no real U.S. million-dollar bills.

The GBP⁠, or British pound sterling, is the official currency of the United Kingdom. The GBP is the oldest currency in the world that is still used as legal tender.

The UK currency is the pound sterling (£/GBP). There are 100 pennies, or pence, to the pound.

The word dollar is derived from Low Saxon cognate of the High German Thaler; the term had already been in common usage since the colonial period when it referred to eight-real coin (Spanish dollar) or the "Spanish milled dollar" issued by the Spanish from New Spain and used throughout the rest of the Americas.

The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives.