Before the American Revolution, many different kinds of money were used.
People brought money when they immigrated and some colonies issued
their own money.
As a new country, one of the things that Congress needed to do was to decide
on what currency we would use. In 1785, the dollar was adopted and the first
dollar minted was a coin. We did not have paper dollars until 1861.
Today, what most of us call a dollar bill is really a Federal Reserve Note. Up
until 1969, there were bills of large denominations circulated ($500, $1,000,
$5,000, and $10,000). Now the largest bill in circulation is $100. The largest
bill every printed was for $100,000 (it had Woodrow Wilson’s portrait on
the front) to be used only by banks transfering funds; you could not use it in
the local store! Up until 1957, the US government issued Silver Certificates
which could be exchanged for silver, but exchanging for silver was outlawed in
1968 because the government’s supply of silver was becoming depleted by
people wanting silver for investment. Now the currency that the government issues
is Federal Reserve Notes.
Bills are smaller than in “the olden days.” From 1914 to 1929, the
dimensions were 7.42 by 3.13 inches, now they are 6.14 inches by 2.61 inches.
Each bill is .0043 inches thick. One thousand new bills weigh 2.2 pounds (after
circulating, they weigh closer to 2.3 pounds).
You will probably want to use a calculator when solving this month’s problems.
You need to know that one mile is 5,280 feet long. |
