Types of American Currency
The United States monetary system operates under the gold standard, whereby currency like paper bills and coins stand in for their allotted value in gold depending on the exchange rate of the time. A number of currency options exist in America in the form of tangible money or electronic funds, all of which offer varying degrees of security and convenience for the conscientious consumer.
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Bills
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Bills such as Legal Tender Notes and Federal Reserve Notes have been around since the early days of American history. Current bills feature U.S. Presidents like Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson on one side and historic places like the White House on the other. Bills range from relatively small denominations of a single dollar to upwards of $100,000. Due to factors like inflation, these values fluctuate over time as the amount of paper bills in circulation, and what they are ultimately worth, like all other currency, depends upon the amount of gold a government possesses. These bills are made of a blend of cotton and linen and, while durable, the daily wear and tear of these bills ensures that new bills are continually circulated.
Coins
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Another type of U.S. currency are coins. The denominations of these coins are smaller or equal to the $1 bill the and range from the smallest fraction of the dollar, a single penny, to a whole dollar in value. These coins are composed of various blends of copper, zinc, nickel, manganese and tin and feature the likenesses of United States presidents and other notable figures including Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Susan B. Anthony. Due to shortages in copper during World War II, pennies were cast in steel, though these coins are no longer in circulation. As with bills, the value of coins and the amount of coins in circulation fluctuate due to the economy.
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Checks
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Checks work for personal bank accounts in the same way that bills work for the U.S. government. Issued by banks to their customers, checks stand in for the amount of money an account holder may have in her personal account and are, in many ways, an order to the bank to pay a certain amount of money. In the same way that paper bills and coins replaced the need to carry around heavy loads of gold to pay for items, small books of checks may be carried to replace, and thus limit the risk of losing, large amounts of bills or coins. Advances in technology have allowed for checks to be electronically read by cash registers as well as photographed and sent through cell phones where they may be instantly accepted or declined by banks, making the carrying of actual paper checks nearly obsolete.
Debit, Check and Credit Cards
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Also known as an electronic checks, debit or check cards are an invaluable form of American and world currency, as they offer instant payments for items known as electronic fund transfers. Small, lightweight and compact, debit or check cards are plastic cards issued by banks and are connected to a customer's personal bank account. These cards are a more secure type of currency, as they are typically protected by the bank from fraudulent activity, should they be stolen or otherwise compromised. Credit cards are also issued by banks but differ from debit or check cards in that they are not connected to a bank account and allow for items to be purchased on credit, which must then be repaid on a monthly basis.
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References
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