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The History of the Dollar

Weird History | May 1, 2026



Though the United States dollar was officially adopted in 1785, paper currency didn’t fully enter circulation until the Civil War. The current appearance of modern US bills developed only after a long period of economic development based on commodities and coinage. The earliest form of currency used on the North American continent includes Native American beads and coins minted in Europe. Given the choice, which form of currency would you want to revisit? Does the barter-based wampum appeal to your sensibilities, or perhaps a gold and silver system that would literally weigh you down?

#USCurrency #USdollar #weirdhistory

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Written by Weird History

Comments

This post currently has 44 comments.

  9. @skipondowntheroad5833

    May 1, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    It's amazing that you made this mini documentary without mentioning that the U.S. dollar was, from the very beginning, defined as a weight of silver and a weight of gold and arguably has never been redefined as anything else. Therefore, in my opinion, it is more accurate to say the dollar is gold and is silver than to say the (paper) dollar is/was "backed" by gold and silver.

  10. @skipondowntheroad5833

    May 1, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    Your mocking of crypo/Bitcoin didn't age so well. Bitcoin was under $16K at the time of this video but today is at $95K. Bitcoin adoption is happening. Crypto adoption….not so much.

  12. @vijaygautam1406

    May 1, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    5:33 this theory of US dollar sign is wrong. Actually, when the letter 'U' is stretched vertically, and put in the background of the letter 'S', it becomes the US dollar sign of '$'. This is how the US dollar got its famous currency notation.

  13. @YoseSe-l9c

    May 1, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    ❤🎉❤ KEHANCURAN KEKUASAAN MESIN CETAK MATA UANG DOLAR AMERIKA SERIKAT ❤🎉❤ SUDAH WAKTUNYA DIHAPUS DARI PETA DUNIA KARENA TIDAK SESUAI DENGAN KEMANUSIAAN YANG ADIL DAN BERADAB PAHAM SAYANG ❤🎉❤

  16. @NatkingRosa

    May 1, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    We have given up gold for it 😢😢😢😢😢😢from America 🇺🇸 with love always 🇺🇸 ❤❤❤😂😂😂😂 love the gold 💛 😂😂😂😂

  27. @pablorm9819

    May 1, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    Great video, however, the dollar sign’s origin is NOT a mystery, in fact it’s pretty well documented.

    As stated at the beginning of the video, the American Dollar was designed to mimic the Spanish real (not peso) which was minted in Mexico City and other parts across the Spanish Empire in the new world. The word dollar evolved from “Tálero” which itself came from the Thaller as stated in the video, since the coin was made similarly, and it was another usual name given to the Real.

    Reals became legal tender and commonly traded in the whole world, since Spanish silver was abundant and mexican mints had become the standard. Thus why the brittish colonies, and later early American states accepted and commonly traded with them until the creation of the US Dollar which mirrored a real.

    As for the dollar sign, all spanish coins featured the pillars of hercules with a flag in the shape of an S across them that had the latin words “Plus Ultra” — A motto that signified a world beyond was was commonly believed to be the end of the world (Plus Ultra meaning More beyond).

    As a way of abbreviating Real, táler, thaller or dollar, pelople way before the creation of the US mint started using two lines (signifying the pillars) crossed by an S (signifying the flag). The sign was later made simpler by removing one of the lines, giving us the dollar sign.

    Fun fact: “$” is not just the “dollar sign” it is also used in multiple latin american countries as the sign for their own currencies, like the Mexican Peso (which was also originally an exact copy of the Real, also minted in Mexico prior to their independence).

  36. @EmivalEterno

    May 1, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    What I find most fascinating about the United States currency is that it has still been the international reference currency since August 1971, when it became a fiat currency.

  40. @aydimHovey-z3s

    May 1, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    Thanks for the forecast! Could you help me with something unrelated: My okx wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase: (proof inner hobby bounce blouse able donate virtual luggage cart morning ticket). What's the way to send them to Binance?

  43. @ApinderSingh-b2c

    May 1, 2026 at 12:52 pm

    Its written in the money notes in god we trust its means America is Christian country they do believe in there own gods jegus Christ who granted big power to them for the entire world, everything comes from true god and everything is go back to great god true talk

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