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{{short description|Name of monetary currency}}
{{About|the name used for currencies|the currency used in the United States of America|United States dollar|other uses}}
{{Redirect|1 buck|the film|1 Buck (film){{!}}''1 Buck'' (film)}}
[[File:Countries that use the dollar.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|
{{legend|#00ff00|Countries that use the [[US dollar]]}}
{{legend|#008001|Countries or territories that use a non-US currency named dollar}}
{{legend|#ff0000|Countries that formerly used a dollar currency}}
]]
[[File:Joachimsthaler 1525.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|The {{lang |de |Joachimsthaler}} of the Kingdom of Bohemia was the first {{lang|de|thaler}} (dollar).]]

'''Dollar''' is the name of more than 25 [[Currency|currencies]]. 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. Others include the [[Australian dollar]], [[Brunei dollar]], [[Canadian dollar]], [[Eastern Caribbean dollar]], [[Hong Kong dollar]], [[Jamaican dollar]], [[Liberian dollar]], [[Namibian dollar]], [[New Taiwan dollar]], [[New Zealand dollar]], [[Singapore dollar]], [[Trinidad and Tobago dollar]], and several others. The symbol for most of those currencies is the [[dollar sign]] '''$'''; the same symbol is used by many countries using [[peso]] currencies. 

The name 'dollar' originates from the [[thaler]], which was the name of a {{convert|29|g|adj=on}} [[silver coin]] called the {{lang|de|[[Joachimsthaler]]}} minted in 1519 in the western part of [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown|Bohemia]] (now the [[Czech Republic]]). The word {{lang|de|thaler}} itself comes from the German word {{lang|de|Thal}}, i.e. 'valley'.

==Economies that use a "dollar"==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Country or territory
! [[ISO 4217]] code
! Currency
! Established
! Preceding currency
|-
| {{flag|Antigua and Barbuda}}
| XCD
| [[Eastern Caribbean dollar]]
| 1965
| [[British West Indies dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Australia}} and its [[States and Territories of Australia|territories]]
| AUD
| [[Australian dollar]]
| 1966
| [[Australian pound]] 1910–1966 <br>[[Pound sterling]] 1825–1910
|-
| {{flag|Bahamas}}
| BSD
| [[Bahamian dollar]]
| 1966
| [[Bahamian pound]]
|-
| {{flag|Barbados}}
| BBD
| [[Barbadian dollar]]
| 1972
| [[Eastern Caribbean dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Belize}}
| BZD
| [[Belize dollar]]
| 1973
| British Honduran dollar
|-
| {{flag|Bermuda}}
| BMD
| [[Bermudian dollar]]
| 1970
| [[Pound sterling]]
|-
| {{flag|Brunei}}
| BND<br /><small>(SGD)</small>
| [[Brunei dollar]]<br>
<small>(Alongside the [[Singapore dollar]])</small>
| 1967
| [[Malaya and British Borneo dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Canada}}
| CAD
| [[Canadian dollar]]
| 1858
| [[Spanish dollar]] pre-1841 <br>[[Canadian pound]] 1841–1858 <br>[[Newfoundland dollar]] 1865–1949 in the [[Dominion of Newfoundland]]
|-
| {{flag|Cayman Islands}}
| KYD
| [[Cayman Islands dollar]]
| 1972
| [[Jamaican dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Dominica}}
| XCD
| [[Eastern Caribbean dollar]]
| 1965
| [[British West Indies dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Fiji}}
| FJD
| [[Fijian dollar]]
| 1969
| [[Fijian pound]]
|-
| {{flag|Grenada}}
| XCD
| [[Eastern Caribbean dollar]]
| 1965
| [[British West Indies dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Guyana}}
| GYD
| [[Guyanese dollar]]
| 1839
| [[Eastern Caribbean dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Hong Kong}}
| HKD
| [[Hong Kong dollar]]
| 1863
| [[Rupee]], Real (Spanish/Colonial Spain: Mexican), [[Chinese cash (currency unit)|Chinese cash]]
|-
| {{flag|Jamaica}}
| JMD
| [[Jamaican dollar]]
| 1969
| [[Jamaican pound]]
|-
| {{flag|Kiribati}}
| KID / AUD
| [[Kiribati dollar]] along with the [[Australian dollar]]
| 1979
| [[Australian dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Liberia}}
| LRD
| [[Liberian dollar]]
| 1937
| United States dollar
|-
| {{flag|Namibia}}
| NAD/ZAR
| [[Namibian dollar]] along with the [[South African rand]]
| 1993
| [[South African rand]]
|-
| {{flag|Nauru}}
| AUD
| [[Australian dollar]]
| 
| 
|-
| {{flag|New Zealand}} and its [[Realm of New Zealand|territories and dependencies]]
| NZD
| [[New Zealand dollar]]
| 1967
| [[New Zealand pound]]
|-
| {{Flag|Saint Kitts and Nevis}}
| XCD
| [[Eastern Caribbean dollar]]
| rowspan="3" |1965
| 
|-
| {{flag|Saint Lucia}}
| XCD
| Eastern Caribbean dollar
| 
|-
| {{flag|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}}
| XCD
| Eastern Caribbean dollar
| 
|-
| {{flag|Singapore}}
| SGD<br /><small>(BND)</small>
| [[Singapore dollar]]<br /><small>(Alongside the [[Brunei dollar]])</small>
| 1967
| [[Malaya and British Borneo dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Solomon Islands}}
| SBD
| [[Solomon Islands dollar]]
| 1977
| [[Australian pound]]
|-
| {{flag|Suriname}}
| SRD
| [[Surinamese dollar]]
| 2004
| [[Surinamese guilder]]
|-
| {{flag|Taiwan}}
| TWD
| [[New Taiwan dollar]]
| 1949
| [[Old Taiwan dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Trinidad and Tobago}}
| TTD
| [[Trinidad and Tobago dollar]]
| 1964
| [[British West Indies dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Tuvalu}}
| TVD / AUD
| [[Tuvaluan dollar]] along with the [[Australian dollar]]
| 1976
| 
|-
| {{flag|United States}} and its [[Territories of the United States|territories]]
| USD
| [[United States dollar]]
| 1792
| [[Spanish dollar]]<br>[[Early American currency|Colonial scrip]]
|}

===Other countries that use the United States dollar===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Country or territory
! Established
! Preceding currency
|-
| {{Flag|East Timor}}
| 2002
| [[Indonesian rupiah]]
|-
| {{flag|Ecuador}}
| 2001
| [[Ecuadorian sucre]]
|-
| {{flag|El Salvador}}
| 2001
| [[Salvadoran colón]]
|-
| {{flag|Marshall Islands}}
|
|
|-
| {{flag|Federated States of Micronesia}}
|
|
|-
| {{Flag|Palau}}
|
|
|}

===Other territories that use a dollar===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Territory  !! Currency
|-
| {{AIA}}|| [[Eastern Caribbean dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Bonaire}} <small>([[Netherlands]])</small>||  [[US dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|British Indian Ocean Territory}}|| US dollar (alongside the [[pound sterling]])
|-
| {{IVB}}|| US dollar
|-
| {{MSR}}|| Eastern Caribbean dollar
|-
| {{flag|Saba}} <small>([[Netherlands]])</small>|| US dollar
|-
| {{flag|Saint Pierre and Miquelon|local}} <small>([[France]])</small>|| [[Canadian dollar]] (alongside the [[euro]])
|-
| {{flag|Sint Eustatius}} <small>([[Netherlands]])</small>|| US dollar
|-
| {{TCA}}|| US dollar
|}

===Countries unofficially accepting "dollars"===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country
!Currency
|-
| {{flag|Afghanistan}}|| rowspan="7" | [[US dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Argentina}}
|-
| {{flag|Bolivia}}
|-
| {{flag|Cambodia}}
|-
| {{flag|Cuba}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Torres |first1=Andrea |date=17 July 2020 |title=Cuba to accept U.S. dollars at government stores |url=https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/07/17/cuba-to-accept-us-dollars-at-government-stores/ |website=Local 10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Estrada |first1=Oscar Fernandez |date=8 November 2019 |title=Return to the US Dollar in Cuba: What about the CUC? |url=https://havanatimes.org/opinion/return-to-the-us-dollar-in-cuba-what-about-the-cuc/ |website=Havana Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kornbluh |first1=Peter |title=Cuba Is Getting Rid of the CUC |url=https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/cuba-is-getting-rid-of-the-cuc |website=Cigar Aficionado}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Can I Use U.s. Dollars To Make Purchases In Cuba? |url=https://insightcuba.com/faq/can-i-use-us-dollars-make-purchases-cuba |website=Insight Cuba |access-date=2021-02-08 |archive-date=2021-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125125545/https://insightcuba.com/faq/can-i-use-us-dollars-make-purchases-cuba |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Circles |date=30 August 2020 |title=US Dollar Taking Over in Cuba as CUC Plummets |url=https://havanatimes.org/news/us-dollar-taking-over-in-cuba-as-cuc-plummets/ |website=Havana Times}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Guatemala}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Wojtanik |first=Andrew |url=https://archive.org/details/afghanistantozim0000wojt |title=Afghanistan to Zimbabwe |publisher=National Geographic Society |year=2005 |location=Washington, DC |page=[https://archive.org/details/afghanistantozim0000wojt/page/147 147] |author-link=Andrew Wojtanik |url-access=registration}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Laos}}
|-
| {{flag|Lebanon}}
|-
| {{flag|Macau}}|| [[Hong Kong dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Maldives}}|| rowspan="9" | [[United States dollar|US dollar]]
|-
| {{flag|Myanmar}}
|-
| {{flag|Nicaragua}}
|-
| {{flag|North Korea}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Lankov |first=Andrei |title=[[The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-939003-8 |location=Oxford |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FHpYCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 89] |author-link=Andrei Lankov}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Panama}}<ref>Although called Panamanian balboas, US dollars circulate as official currency, since there are no Balboa bills, only coins that are the same size, weight and value as their US counterparts.</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Paraguay}}
|-
| {{flag|Peru}}
|-
| {{flag|Philippines}}
|-
| {{flag|Uruguay}}
|-
| {{flag|Venezuela}}
|-
| {{flag|Vietnam}}
|}

==Countries and regions that have previously used a "dollar" currency==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2026}}
[[File:Dollar du Sarawak.jpg|thumb|One [[Sarawak dollar]] from 1935, featuring [[Charles Vyner Brooke]], the 3rd and last [[White Rajah]] of [[Kingdom of Sarawak|Sarawak]]]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ 
|-
! Country !! Introduction !! Withdrawal !! Notes
|-
| {{flag|Confederate States of America}} || 1861 || 1865 || The [[Confederate States dollar]] issued from March 1861 to 1865.
|-
| {{flag|Ethiopia}} ||  1945 || 1976 || The name [[Ethiopian birr|Ethiopian dollar]] was used in the English text on the banknotes. It was divided into 100 santims (derived from the French centime). Birr became the official name, used in all languages, in 1976.
|-
| {{flag|Malaysia}} || 1967 || 1975 || On 12 June 1967, the [[Malaysian ringgit|Malaysian dollar]], issued by the new central bank, [[Central Bank of Malaysia]], replaced the [[Malaya and British Borneo dollar]]. The Malaysian Ringgit name was introduced in 1975.
|-
| {{flag|Sierra Leone}} || 1791 || 1805 || The [[Sierra Leonean dollar]] was used from 1791 to 1805. It was subdivided into 100 cents and was issued by the [[Sierra Leone Company]]. The dollar was pegged to sterling at a rate of 1 dollar = 4 shillings 2 pence.
|-
| {{flag|Spain}} || 1497 || 1868 || The [[Spanish dollar]] was used from 1497 to 1868.
|-
| {{flag|Sri Lanka}} || 1815 || 1828 || The [[Ceylonese rixdollar]] was a currency used in [[British Ceylon]] in the early 19th Century.
|-
| {{flag|Rhodesia}} || 1970 || 1980 || the [[Rhodesian dollar]] replaced the [[Rhodesian pound]] in 1970 and it was used until [[Zimbabwe]] came into being in 1980.
|-
| {{flag|Republic of Texas}} || 1839 || 1840 || The [[Texas dollar]] was issued between January 1839 and September 1840.
|-
| {{flag|Zimbabwe}} || 1980 || 2009 || The [[Zimbabwean dollar (1980–2009)|Zimbabwean dollar]] was the name of four official currencies of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 12 April 2009. During this time, it was subject to periods of extreme inflation, followed by a period of [[hyperinflation]]. Another [[Zimbabwean dollar (2019–2024)|Zimbabwean dollar]] was in use from 2019 to 2024.
|}

==History==
===Etymology===
On 15 January 1520, the [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown|Kingdom of Bohemia]] began minting coins from silver mined locally in [[Jáchymov|Joachimsthal]] and marked on reverse with the [[Bohemian lion]]. The coins were named ''Joachimsthaler'' after the town, becoming shortened in common usage to ''thaler'' or ''taler''. The town's name is derived from [[Saint Joachim]], coupled with the German word ''Thal'' (''Tal'' in modern spelling), which means 'valley' ([[cf.]] the English term ''dale''); the coin is thus "from the valley of [St] Joachim".<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200107-welcome-to-jchymov-the-czech-town-that-invented-the-dollar Welcome to Jáchymov: the Czech town that invented the dollar]. The tiny town of Jáchymov was just named one of Unesco's newest World Heritage sites Five hundred years after coining the first dollar, a tiny mining town is coming to grips with the many ways it shaped the modern world. bbc.com.</ref>

This name found its way into other languages, for example:<ref name="observationdeck">{{cite web|title=Why Is The Dollar Sign A Letter S?|url=http://observationdeck.io9.com/why-is-the-dollar-sign-a-letter-s-1683940575|access-date=2015-02-09|publisher=Observation Deck|archive-date=2015-05-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504043744/http://observationdeck.io9.com/why-is-the-dollar-sign-a-letter-s-1683940575|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* [[German language|German]] — ''Thaler'' (or ''Taler'')
* [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Slovak language|Slovak]] and [[Slovene language|Slovenian]] — ''[[tolar]]''
* [[Slovak language|Slovak]] — ''toliar''
* [[Croatian language|Croatian]] — ''talir''
* [[Polish language|Polish]] — ''talar''
* [[Low German]] — ''daler''
* [[Dutch language|Dutch]] — ''[[rijksdaalder]]'' (or ''daler'')
* [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] — ''[[Norwegian rigsdaler|rigsdaler]]''
* [[Latvian language|Latvian]] — ''dālderis''
* [[Swedish language|Swedish]] — ''[[riksdaler]]''
* [[Spanish language|Spanish]] — ''[[Spanish dollar|dólar]]'' (or ''real de a ocho'' or ''peso duro'')
* [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] — ''tallér''
* [[Ethiopian language|Ethiopian]] — ''talari'' (ታላሪ)
* [[English language|English]] — ''dollar''

In contrast to other languages which adopted the second part of word ''joachimsthaler'', the first part found its way into [[Russian language]] and became {{ill|efimok|ru|ефимок}}, {{lang|ru-Latn|yefimok}} (ефимок).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trv-science.ru/2017/06/taler-dollar-efimok/|title=Талер, доллар, ефимок — Троицкий вариант — Наука|date=20 June 2017|access-date=30 January 2021}}</ref>

The predecessor of the Joachimsthaler was the ''[[Guldengroschen]]'' or '''''Guldiner''''' which was a large [[silver]] [[coin]] originally minted in [[German Tyrol|Tirol]] in 1486 and introduced into the [[Duchy of Saxony]] in 1500. The King of Bohemia wanted a similar silver coin, which became the Joachimsthaler.

===Europe and colonial North America===
[[File:Philip V Coin silver, 8 Reales Mexico.jpg|thumb|The [[Spanish dollar]], natively called Peso, was the main coin of the Spanish Empire. This coin is from 1739.]]

The Joachimsthaler of the 16th century was succeeded by the longer-lived [[Reichsthaler]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], used from the 16th to 19th centuries. The Netherlands also introduced its own dollars in the 16th century: the Burgundian Cross Thaler (''Bourgondische Kruisdaalder''), the German-inspired ''[[Rijksdaalder]]'', and the Dutch lion dollar (''leeuwendaalder''). The latter coin was used for Dutch trade in the Middle East, in the Dutch East Indies and West Indies, and in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] of North America.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Lion-Dollar.intro.html|title=Lion Dollar - Introduction|website=coins.nd.edu|access-date=2022-02-05|archive-date=2018-07-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710214930/https://coins.nd.edu/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

For the English North American colonists, however, the Spanish peso or "piece of eight" had always held first place, and this coin was also called the "dollar" as early as 1581. [[Spanish dollar]]s or "[[pieces of eight]]" were distributed widely in the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish colonies in the New World]] and in the [[Philippines]].<ref name="books.google.nl">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0j6GvkVvAGsC&q=dutch+daalder&pg=PA154|title=Taxation in Colonial America|isbn=978-1400828708|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Rabushka|first1=Alvin|date=16 December 2010|publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref><ref name = "nqteor">{{cite journal
 | last =Julian
 | first =R. W.
 | author-link=R.W. Julian
 | title =All About the Dollar
 | journal = [[The Numismatist]]
 | publisher = American Numismatic Association
 | year = 2007
 | page =41 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Cross|first=Bill|title=Dollar Default: How the Federal Reserve and the Government Betrayed Your Trust|year=2012|isbn=9781475261080|pages=17–18|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform }}</ref><ref name="NatGeo">National Geographic. June 2002. p. 1. ''Ask Us''.</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Wj22AJfmXgC&q=trade+coins&pg=PA84|title=The First Modern Economy|isbn=9780521578257|access-date=6 October 2014|last1=Vries|first1=Jan de|last2=Woude|first2=Ad van der|date=28 May 1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref>

===Origins of the dollar sign===
{{Main article|Dollar sign #History}}

The sign is first attested in business correspondence in the 1770s as a [[scribal abbreviation]] "p<sup>s</sup>", referring to the Spanish American [[peso]],<ref>Lawrence Kinnaird (July 1976). "The Western Fringe of Revolution," ''[[The Western Historical Quarterly]]'' '''7(3)''', 259. {{JSTOR|967081}},</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine | magazine = [[Popular Science]] | title = Origin of Dollar Sign is Traced to Mexico | year = 1930 | volume = 116 | issue = 2 | issn = 0161-7370 | page = 59 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4ykDAAAAMBAJ}}</ref> that is, the "Spanish dollar" as it was known in British North America. These late 18th- and early 19th-century manuscripts show that the ''s'' gradually came to be written over the ''p'' developing a close equivalent to the "$" mark, and this new symbol was retained to refer to the American dollar as well, once this currency was adopted in 1785 by the United States.<ref>[[Florian Cajori]] ([1929]1993). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=7juWmvQSTvwC&pg=RA1-PA22 A History of Mathematical Notations]'' (Vol. 2), 15-29.</ref><ref>Arthur S. Aiton and Benjamin W. Wheeler (May 1931). "The First American Mint", ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'' '''11'''(2), 198 and note 2 on 198. {{JSTOR|2506275}},</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Nussbaum | first = Arthur | author-link = Arthur Nussbaum | title = A History of the Dollar | url = https://archive.org/details/historyofdollar0000nuss | url-access = registration | publisher = Columbia University Press | year = 1957 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/historyofdollar0000nuss/page/56 56] }}</ref><ref>Riesco Terrero, Ángel (1983). ''Diccionario de abreviaturas hispanas de los siglos XIII al XVIII: Con un apendice de expresiones y formulas juridico-diplomaticas de uso corriente''. Salamanca: Imprenta Varona, 350. {{ISBN|84-300-9090-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moneyfactory.gov/faqlibrary.html |title='What is the origin of the $ sign?' in FAQ Library |author=Bureau of Engraving and Printing |access-date=December 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505025421/http://www.moneyfactory.gov/faqlibrary.html |archive-date=May 5, 2015 }}</ref>

===Adoption by the United States===
{{Main article|United States dollar}}

By the time of the [[American Revolution]], the Spanish dólar gained significance because they backed paper money authorized by the individual colonies and the [[Continental Congress]].<ref name = "nqteor"/>  Because Britain deliberately withheld hard currency from the American colonies, virtually all the non-token coinage in circulation was Spanish (and to a much lesser extent French and Dutch) silver, obtained via illegal but widespread commerce with the West Indies. Common in the Thirteen Colonies, Spanish dólar were even [[legal tender]] in one colony, [[Virginia]].

On 2 April 1792, U.S. [[Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Alexander Hamilton]] reported to Congress the precise amount of silver found in [[Spanish dollar]] coins in common use in the states. As a result, the [[United States dollar]] was defined<ref name = "Act 1792">''Act of April 2, A.D. 1792 of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Section 9''.</ref> as a unit of pure silver weighing 371 4/16th grains (24.057&nbsp;grams), or 416 grains of standard silver (standard silver being defined as 371.25/416 in silver, and balance in alloy).<ref name = "Act 1792 13">Section 13 of the Act.</ref> It was specified that the "money of account" of the United States should be expressed in those same "dollars" or parts thereof. Additionally, all lesser-denomination coins were defined as percentages of the dollar coin, such that a half-dollar was to contain half as much silver as a dollar, quarter-dollars would contain one-fourth as much, and so on.

In an act passed in January 1837, the dollar's weight was reduced to 412.5 grains and alloy at 90% silver, resulting in the same fine silver content of 371.25 grains. On 21 February 1853, the quantity of silver in the lesser coins was reduced, with the effect that their denominations no longer represented their silver content relative to dollar coins.

Various acts have subsequently been passed affecting the amount and type of metal in U.S. coins, so that today there is no legal definition of the term "dollar" to be found in U.S. statute.<ref name = "At Large">{{cite book | title = United States Statutes at Large}}</ref><ref name = "Yeoman">{{cite book | title = A Guide Book of United States Coins | url = https://archive.org/details/guidebookofuni1965yeom | url-access = registration | first = RS | last = Yeoman| year = 1965 }}</ref><ref name = "Ewart">{{cite book | title = Money — Ye shall have honest weights and measures | first = James E | last = Ewart}}</ref> Currently the closest thing{{clarify|date=October 2023}} to a definition is found in United States Code Title 31, Section 5116, paragraph b, subsection 2: "The Secretary [of the Treasury] shall sell silver under conditions the Secretary considers appropriate for at least $1.292929292 a fine troy ounce."

Silver was mostly removed from U.S. coinage by 1965 and the dollar became a free-floating [[fiat money]] without a commodity backing defined in terms of real gold or silver. The [[United States Mint]] continues to make silver $1-denomination coins, but these are not intended for general circulation.

==Usage in the United Kingdom==
There are two quotes in the plays of [[William Shakespeare]] referring to dollars as money. Coins known as "thistle dollars" were in use in [[Scotland]] during the 16th and 17th centuries,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Handbook of the Coins of Great Britain and Ireland in the British Museum |author=Herbert Appold Grueber |date=January 1999 |publisher=Adegi Graphics LLC |isbn=9781402110900 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LESLAg3XguwC&pg=PA190 }}</ref> and use of the English word, and perhaps even the use of the coin, may have begun at the [[University of St Andrews]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Michael|first=T.R.B. Turnbull|date=30 July 2009|title=Saint Andrew|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/saints/andrew.shtml|access-date=27 August 2020}}</ref> This might be supported by a reference to the sum of "ten thousand dollars" in ''[[Macbeth]]'' (act I, scene II) (an [[anachronism]] because the real [[Macbeth of Scotland|Macbeth]], upon whom the play was based, lived in the 11th century). In the Sherlock Holmes story "[[The Man with the Twisted Lip]]" by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]], published in 1891, an Englishman posing as a London beggar describes the shillings and pounds he collected as dollars:

{{Quotation|It was a long light between my pride and the money, but the '''dollars''' won at last, and I threw up reporting, and sat day after day in the corner which I had first chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face, and filling my pockets with coppers.<ref>https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Strand_Magazine/Volume_2/Issue_12/The_Man_with_the_Twisted_Lip</ref>}}

In 1804, a British five-[[shilling]] piece, or [[Crown (British coin)|crown]], was sometimes called "dollar". It was an [[Overstrike (numismatics)|overstruck]] Spanish eight [[Spanish real|real]] coin (the famous "[[piece of eight]]"), the original of which was known as a Spanish dollar. Large numbers of these eight-real coins were captured during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], hence their re-use by the [[Bank of England]]. They remained in use until 1811.<ref>''All Things Austen: An Encyclopedia of Austen's World'' {{ISBN|0-313-33034-4}} p. 444</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kenelks.co.uk/coins/latermilled/17to19cent.htm|title=The Coinage of Britain - Milled Coins 1662-1816|website=www.kenelks.co.uk|access-date=30 January 2021}}</ref> During [[World War II]], when the U.S. dollar was (approximately) valued at five shillings, the half crown (2s 6d) acquired the nickname "half dollar" or "half a dollar" in the UK.

==Usage elsewhere==
Chinese demand for silver in the 19th and early 20th centuries led several countries, notably the United Kingdom, United States and [[Japan]], to mint [[trade dollar]]s, which were often of slightly different weights from comparable domestic coinage. Silver dollars reaching China (whether Spanish, trade, or other) were often stamped with Chinese characters known as "[[Chop marks on coins|chop marks]]", which indicated that that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and deemed genuine.

===Other national currencies called "dollar"===
[[File:Nz $1 front.jpg|thumb|A [[New Zealand]] [[New Zealand dollar|one-dollar coin]]]]
{{multiple image
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 | image1            = Zimbabwe $500 11a 2001 Obverse.jpg
 | image2            = Zimbabwe $500 11a 2001 Reverse.jpg
 | footer            = 500 old [[Zimbabwean dollar (1980–2009)|Zimbabwean dollar]] bill of the first Zimbabwean dollar
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}}
[[File:Zimbabwe 100000000000 Dollars Bill 2008.jpg|thumb|A [[special agro-cheque]] for 100&nbsp;billion dollars, during the [[hyperinflation in Zimbabwe]]]]

Prior to 1873, the silver dollar circulated in many parts of the world, with a value in relation to the British gold [[British sovereign coin|sovereign]] of roughly $1 = 4s 2d (21p approx). As a result of the decision of the German Empire to stop minting silver ''thaler'' coins in 1871, in the wake of the [[Franco-Prussian War]], the worldwide price of silver began to fall.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.silver-investor.com/charlessavoie/cs_3-29-05_monetarymadhouse.htm |title=Monetary Madhouse, Charles Savoie, 2005 |publisher=Silver-investor.com |access-date=2012-03-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227014729/http://www.silver-investor.com/charlessavoie/cs_3-29-05_monetarymadhouse.htm |archive-date=2012-02-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This resulted in the U.S. [[Coinage Act (1873)]] which put the United States onto a '[[de facto]]' gold standard. [[Canada]] and [[History of Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] were already on the gold standard, and the result was that the value of the dollar in North America increased in relation to silver dollars being used elsewhere, particularly [[Latin America]] and the [[Far East]]. By [[1900]], value of silver dollars had fallen to 50 percent of gold dollars. Following the abandonment of the gold standard by Canada in 1931, the [[Canadian dollar]] began to drift away from parity with the U.S. dollar. It returned to parity a few times, but since the end of the [[Bretton Woods system]] of fixed exchange rates that was agreed to in 1944, the Canadian dollar has been floating against the U.S. dollar. The silver dollars of Latin America and [[South East Asia]] began to diverge from each other as well during the course of the 20th century. The [[Straits dollar]] adopted a gold exchange standard in 1906 after it had been forced to rise in value against other silver dollars in the region. Hence, by 1935, when China and [[Hong Kong]] came off the [[silver standard]], the Straits dollar was worth 2s 4d (11.5p approx) [[Pound sterling|sterling]], whereas the [[Hong Kong dollar]] was worth only 1s 3d sterling (6p approx).

The term "dollar" has also been adopted by other countries for currencies which do not share a common history with other dollars. Many of these currencies adopted the name after moving from a [[£sd]]-based to a decimalized monetary system. Examples include the [[Australian dollar]], the [[New Zealand dollar]], the [[Jamaican dollar]], the [[Cayman Islands dollar]], the [[Fiji dollar]], the [[Namibian dollar]], the [[Rhodesian dollar]], the [[Zimbabwean dollar (1980–2009)|Zimbabwe dollar]], and the [[Solomon Islands dollar]].

* The ''[[Samoan tala|tala]]'' is based on the [[Samoan language|Samoan]] pronunciation of the word "dollar".
* The [[Slovenian tolar]] had the same etymological origin as dollar (that is, ''[[thaler]]'').
* The [[Swedish riksdaler|Swedish Daler]] used to be the name for the currency and have the same etymological origin as the German ''[[thaler]]'').

==See also==
{{Portal|left=yes|Money|Numismatics}}
* [[Eurodollar]]
* [[List of circulating currencies]]
* [[North American currency union]] Amero
* [[Petrodollar]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Greeley |first=Brendan |year=2026 |title=The Almighty Dollar: 500 Years of the World's Most Powerful Money |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Almighty_Dollar/4ol3EQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |edition=First hardcover |location=New York |publisher=Crown Currency |isbn=9780593138885 |oclc=1590788488 |access-date=30 May 2026}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Dollar}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=buck&searchmode=term ''buck''] and [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=dollar&searchmode=term ''dollar''] at the ''[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001023252/http://money.cnn.com/data/currencies/index.html Currency converter]. CNNMoney.com

{{Dollar}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dollar| ]]
[[Category:Denominations (currency)]]
[[Category:Numismatics]]
[[Category:Obsolete currencies in Malaysian history]]