The dollar (USD)

The dollar (American dollar) is the official currency of the United States of America since 1792.

This currency is represented by the symbol $ and is divided into 100 hundred cents or cents, represented by the symbol ¢. The ISO 4217 code for the US dollar is USD.

At the date of this update, for one euro they give you 0.96 dollars in the foreign exchange market.

Countries that use the dollar

The dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world. Countries like Ecuador adopted the dollar as their national currency to combat fluctuations in their local currencies (the sucre in Ecuador).

Another Latin country that uses the dollar is El Salvador. The dollar provides so much stability in countries in economic trouble that savings in local currency are immediately converted into US dollars as a refuge currency not exposed to sudden devaluations.

In addition, many other countries have created their own banknote from the US dollar such as: Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar or New Zealand dollar.

Origins of the US dollar

It was born when on a trip to London in 1751, Benjamin Franklin asked the parliament of the metropolis for permission to mint his own currency. Faced with the refusal of the English, it is said that Franklin bought a printing press that gave rise to the “Continentals” just before independence from the English.

In 1792, the Secretary of the Treasury of the government of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, took as a base the real of eight Spanish (the Americans called it the “Spanish dollar”), the most widespread currency in the world at that time (it was the official currency in the state of Virginia).

The measure was signed on April 2, 1792 in the Coinage Act (An act establishing a mint, and regulating the Coins of the United States.) approved by Congress. It recognizes the creation of the United States Mint, in charge of minting currency (the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is in charge of bills).

At the beginning of its journey, the value of dollar was priced in silver. Then he did it in gold from 1944, when in the Bretton Woods international agreements it was agreed to link the value of world currencies to that of the US dollar. But as long as the US Federal Reserve kept the dollar pegged to the price of gold.

The gold standard died in 1971, giving way to the current paper standard. In other words, today the dollar, like the rest of the currencies that circulate, is nothing more than a fiduciary value (currency or “fiat” money). The bearers “believe” in the support that each bill that we handle in our wallet has, even though the paper itself is worth no more than a few cents to produce.

Dollar banknotes

As we have seen, any dollar bill is printed by the BEP (known as “Federal Reserve notes”), which has two production centers in Washington DC and Fort Worth, Texas.

On the BEP website you can see all the denominations currently in circulation. Today there are dollar bills with the following denominations:

  • 1 dollar,
  • 2 dollars (quite scarce)
  • 5 dollars
  • 10 dollars
  • 20 dollars
  • 50 dollars, and
  • 100 dollars.

There are also $2 banknotes, but they are scarce. Banknotes of denominations greater than 100 dollars are also scarce. On July 14, 1969, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve System announced that bills in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 would be discontinued immediately due to disuse. Although they were issued until 1969, they were last printed in 1945.

Parts of a dollar banknote

The parts of a dollar banknote are these:

Parties d'un billet d'un dollar
Parts of a dollar bill

1 dollar banknote

The dollar banknote (1 USD / 1 $) is the one with the lowest value but the one with the largest circulation.

To give you an idea of its circulation around the world, 45% of the bills printed by the BEP are for one dollar. Since its first printing in 1963 (although the original design is from 1862), the design, with the portrait of George Washington on the front and the Great Seal on the back, has not changed.

1 billet d'un dollar (1 USD)
1 billet d’un dollar (1 USD)

George Washington (1732-1799) was the first president of the United States (1789-1797) and commander-in-chief of the revolutionary Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. He is considered the father of the country.

Billet de 1 dollar (1 USD) Washington
1 dollar banknote (1 USD) Washington

2 dollar banknote

The two-dollar banknote is in rare circulation. It began printing in 1869 and bears the portrait of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States of America (1801-1809), considered one of the founding fathers of the nation.

And the most current is from 2013. On the back there is a vignette with the Declaration of Independence of the United States of July 4, 1776 (The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America). Jefferson was the main author of the United States Declaration of Independence of 1776.

Billete de 2 dólares (2 USD) Jefferson
2 dollar banknote (2 USD) Jefferson

5 dollar banknote

The 5-dollar banknote features the portrait of Abraham Lincoln, an American politician and lawyer. Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America from March 4, 1861 until his assassination on April 15, 1865.

Lincoln billet de 5 dollars (5 USD)
5 dollar banknote Lincoln (5 USD)

10 dollar banknote

The US $10 banknote features the portrait of Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), one of the founding fathers of the United States. He was an economist, statesman, politician, writer and lawyer, and the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.

Billet de 10 $ (10 $) Hamilton
10 dollar banknote (10 USD) Hamilton

20 dollar banknote

This $20 banknote features the portrait of Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) a statesman and the seventh president of the United States.

Billete de 20 dólares (20 USD) Jackson
20 dollar banknote (20 USD) Jackson

50 dollar banknote

This $50 banknote features the portrait of Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), a commanding general of the United States Army at the end of the Civil War and the 18th President of the United States.

Billet de 50 $ (50 USD) Ulysses Grant
50 dollar banknote (50 USD) Ulysses Grant

100 dollar banknote

This banknote features the face of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), an American politician, scientist, and inventor. He is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Billet de 100 $ (100 USD) Benjamin Franklin
100 dollar banknote (100 USD) Benjamin Franklin

Dollar coins

The agency in charge of coin production is the United States Mint. The dollar coins (expressed in cents or cents) are these: 1 cent, 5, 10 and 25 cents. 50-cent coins and 1-dollar coins are also rare.

The names of the approved dollar coins in 1792 were:

  • Penny
  • nickel
  • Dime
  • Quarter
  • Halfdollar

Countries that use the US dollar

The dollar is the currency of the United States. But perhaps you did not know that it is also the currency adopted by many other countries. In other words, these countries also issue dollar bills for the monetary stability that introduces their value against other less stable local currencies.

Pays qui utilisent le dollar américain
Países que usan el dolar americano

This phenomenon of adoption is known as “dollarization” and countries that have adopted it are: Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, the Turks and Caicos Islands (former Jamaican), the British Virgin Islands (British colony overseas east of Puerto Rico), East Timor or Zimbabwe. The first two since 2000.

For example, Ecuador’s old currency, the sucre, was supplanted by the US dollar on January 9, 2000 at an exchange rate of 25,000 sucres per dollar.

In El Salvador, something similar also happened when the colón (SVC code, created in 1892) gradually disappeared from the country’s circulation starting in 2001. In all these cases, dollarization implies recognition of the failure of local monetary policy to submit to the stability of the monetary policy of the North American central bank, the Federal Reserve (FED).

Euro to dollar exchange rate

The exchange rate of the euro against the dollar fluctuates at all times and is usually around parity. If you search Google for “euro to dollar rate” you will find dozens of websites that offer this “rate” of the day.

Even with Google Finance rates. Something like this (rates for the last 5 years as of September 3, 2022):   As you can see, the exchange rate in the last year has fluctuated between 1.10 and 1.21 dollars per euro (weak euro last months). But keep in mind that this graph represents the value of the dollar “currency” against the euro, and not that of the travel money, which is lower (worse). But keep this in mind:

-This rate is a wholesale price of the dollar currency against the euro currency (currency and travel money are not the same);

-This rate can only be obtained by banks among themselves, that is, it is impossible to obtain it as an individual. If you need dollars in bills you will have to go through the retail market (bank or currency supplier). This market means that the dollars have had to be “transported” by someone for you to enjoy them.

-The dollar is a very common and abundant currency in France, so it is easy to find it available (it is always available for sale), since the currency suppliers receive tourists who use the American currency exchange it for euros when they visit us.

Therefore, the currency suppliers and banks have abundant stocks and dispose of the currency at reasonable exchange rates. But never agree to pay a commission for the currency exchange, in addition to a margin already included in the exchange rate applied to you.

Where to exchange US dollars

The 3 most popular places to exchange dollars in France are banks and high street currency suppliers and at the airport. It could also be done privately, of course, but it’s not worth it because, as France is a country that receives about 90 million tourists a year, there are no problems with the supply of dollars.

However, the least recommended places to exchange euros for dollars are airports and any business that charges you a commission in addition to an “exchange margin” (difference between the price for which the currency was paid and the price for which it was paid to you). sells).

Euro to dollar exchange rate today

To find out the euro to dollar exchange rate today in France, the best thing you can do is use our currency comparator:

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