What is a Dollar?

The dollar, symbolized by $, is a widely used currency across over twenty countries, including the USA, Canada, and Australia. Discover its origins, history, and global exchange rates, along with a breakdown of various dollar denominations used worldwide. Learn more about this essential unit of currency!

What is a Dollar? Meaning, Definition!

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Dollar (often represented by the dollar sign $) is the name of more than twenty currencies, including (ordered by population) those of the United States, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Liberia, Jamaica, and Namibia.

The U.S. dollar is the official currency of East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, the Caribbean Netherlands, and for banknotes, Panama. Generally, one dollar is divided into one hundred cents. The Currency is a system of money in general use in a particular country. What is a Rupee? Now, you learn What is a Dollar?

“The history of the dollar. For the symbol “$”, see the Dollar sign. The Slovenian philosopher, see Mladen Dolar. The municipality in Spain, see Dólar.”

Exchange Currency in US currency 

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One US Dollar ($1) Rated to Others Country:

1. 1.38 Australian Dollar
2. 1.00 Bahamian Dollar
3. 2.00 Barbadian Dollar
4. 2.01 Belize Dollar
5. 1.00 Bermudan Dollar
6. 1.44 Brunei Dollar
7. 1.34 Canadian Dollar
8. 0.82 Cayman Islands Dollar
9. 2.70 East Caribbean Dollar
10. 2.13 Fijian Dollar
11. 207.21 Guyanaese Dollar
12. 7.76 Hong Kong Dollar
13. 128.80 Jamaican Dollar
14. 91.00 Liberian Dollar
15. 13.96 Namibian Dollar
16. 32.01 New Taiwan Dollar
17. 1.44 New Zealand Dollar
18. 1.44 Singapore Dollar
19. 7.39 Surinamese Dollar
20. 6.75 Trinidad & Tobago Dollar

History of Dollar

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On 15 January 1520, the Czech Kingdom of Bohemia began minting coins from silver mined locally in Joachimsthal (Czech Jáchymov) and marked on the reverse with the Czech lion. The coins were called Joachim’s thaler, which became shortened in common usage to thaler or taler. The German name “Joachimsthal” literally means “Joachim’s valley” or “Joachim’s dale”.

This name found its way into other languages: Czech tolar, Hungarian tallér, Danish and Norwegian (rigs) daler, Swedish (riks)daler, Icelandic dalur, Dutch (rijks)daalder or daler, Ethiopian ታላሪ (“talari”), Italian tallero, Polish talar, Persian dare, as well as – via Dutch – into English as dollar.

A later Dutch coin depicting also a lion was called the leeuwen daler or leeuwen daalder, literally ‘lion daler’. The Dutch Republic produced these coins to accommodate its booming international trade. The leeuwen daler circulated throughout the Middle East and was imitated in several German and Italian cities.

This coin was also popular in the Dutch East Indies and in the Dutch New Netherland Colony (New York). It was in circulation throughout the Thirteen Colonies during the 17th and early 18th centuries and was popularly known as “lion (or lyon) dollar”.

The currencies of Romania and Bulgaria are, to this day, ‘lion’ (leu/leva). The modern American-English pronunciation of dollar is still remarkably close to the 17th-century Dutch pronunciation of daler. Some well-worn examples circulating in the Colonies were known as “dog dollars”.

Spanish pesos – having the same weight and shape – came to be known as Spanish dollars. By the mid-18th century, the lion dollar had been replaced by Spanish dollar, the famous “pieces of eight”, which were distributed widely in the Spanish colonies in the New World and in the Philippines.

Types of Dollar with Countries Bases

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Antigua and Barbuda	East Caribbean dollar	XCD
Australia and its territories	Australian dollar	AUD	1966-02-14	Australian pound 1910-1966 Pound sterling 1825-1910
Bahamas	Bahamian dollar	BSD		Bahamian pound
Barbados	Barbadian dollar	BBD
Belize	Belize dollar	BZD/USD	1973	British Honduran Dollar
Bermuda	Bermuda dollar	BMD
Brunei	Brunei dollar (Alongside the Singapore dollar)	BND (SGD)
Canada	Canadian dollar	CAD	1858	Canadian pound 1841-1858 Spanish dollar pre-1841 Newfoundland dollar, pre-1949 in the Dominion of Newfoundland
Cayman Islands	Cayman Islands dollar	KYD
Dominica	East Caribbean dollar	XCD
East Timor	United States dollar	USD
Ecuador	United States dollar	USD	2001	Ecuadorian sucre
El Salvador	United States dollar	USD	2001-01-01	Salvadoran colón
Fiji	Fijian dollar	FJD
Grenada	East Caribbean dollar	XCD
Guyana	Guyanese dollar	GYD
Hong Kong	Hong Kong dollar	HKD	1863	Rupee, Real (Spanish/Colonial Spain: Mexican), Chinese cash
Jamaica	Jamaican dollar	JMD	1969	Jamaican pound
Kiribati	Kiribati dollar along with the Australian dollar	N/A / AUD
Liberia	Liberian dollar	LRD
Marshall Islands	United States dollar	USD
Federated States of Micronesia	United States dollar	USD
Namibia	Namibian dollar along with the South African rand	NAD	1993	South African rand
Nauru	Australian dollar	AUD
New Zealand and its territories	New Zealand dollar	NZD	1967	New Zealand pound
Palau	United States dollar	USD
Saint Kitts and Nevis	East Caribbean dollar	XCD
Saint Lucia	East Caribbean dollar	XCD
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	East Caribbean dollar	XCD
Singapore	Singapore dollar	SGD
Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands dollar	SBD
Suriname	Surinamese dollar	SRD	2004	Surinamese guilder
Taiwan	New Taiwan dollar	TWD	1949
Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad and Tobago dollar	TTD
Tuvalu	Tuvaluan dollar along with the Australian dollar	TVD / AUD
United States and its territories	United States dollar	USD	1792	Spanish dollar colonial script
Zimbabwe	United States dollar	USD		Zimbabwean dollar

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Note: All Countries Dollar exchange rate, 21 December 2016.