The basic unit of USA money is the dollar. One dollar is written as $1 or $1.00. One cent is written as 1¢. One dollar and twenty-five cents would be written as $1.25. Dollar amounts are written with a comma every three digits, so one thousand dollars would be written as $1,000.00.
Paper currency is used for amounts of $1 or more, and coins are used for amounts under $1. The most common coins and their dollar equivalencies are as follows:
Coin
Figure on Front
Value (Cents)
Value (Dollars)
Color
Penny
Lincoln
1 cent
0.01 dollars
Copper
Nickel
Jefferson
5 cent
0.05 dollars
Silver
Dime
Roosevelt
10 cent
0.10 dollars
Silver
Quarter
Washington
25 cent
0.25 dollars
Silver
Half Dollar
Kennedy
50 cent
0.50 dollars
Silver
Dollar
Anthony
100 cent
1.00 dollars
Silver
Paper currency is most often circulated in the following denominations: $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. Occasionally you will encounter a $2 bill. The denomination of all currency is clearly marked on the bottom of both sides of the bill, and on all four corners. Some stores will not accept bills larger than a $20. The $20 bill was recently redesigned to make it more difficult to counterfeit, so you will see both the new and old bills in circulation. All currency is green and printed using special paper. The slang term for a dollar bill is a "buck", so $20 might be described as "twenty bucks".
Each denomination includes a picture of a famous American statesman on the front. The following table describes the images on the various denominations.
