When was the first dollar printed?

Approximately 35 million dollar bills are produced every day in the United States. This is one of the main reserve currencies in the world, which significantly influences price formation. Under what circumstances did the dollar appear and when were the first banknotes printed? How and when did the dollar appear? The monetary unit has a close connection with the first world-class currency - the thaler. These coins appeared at the beginning of the 16th century and were called Joachimsthalers in honor of the Czech city where they were first minted. Later the name was shortened and the money gained popularity in many countries. But everywhere they were called differently. For example, the Spaniards - dalero, residents of Scandinavian countries - dalers, the Netherlands - daldre, the British - dollars.

By the way, in England all silver coins that looked like a thaler were considered dollars. And in the colonies in North America, peso coins were also called “Spanish dollars.” During the American War of Independence (1775-1783), they were the most popular money here.

After the declaration of independence of the United States from the Kingdom of Great Britain, Thomas Jefferson (one of the Founding Fathers and 3rd President of the United States) proposed in 1785 to use the dollar as the country's currency. When was the first dollar printed? The first dollars were the same silver coins, similar to thalers. The United States did not have a banknote system until 1861. Various financial transactions were carried out using coins and bars. In the period from 1793 to 1861. The US Treasury issued temporary bonds - “Treasure Notes”. However, they were not considered full-fledged banknotes. The need for a large amount of funds arose with the outbreak of the Civil War. The US Congress in July 1861 ordered the Treasury to produce money in the form of banknotes in the amount of $60 million. They were printed by the American Bank Note Co. According to a resolution of Congress, banknotes were issued in denominations of 5, 10, and 20 dollars. The green color for dollars was chosen solely for practical reasons - printers discovered that the reserves of green ink were the largest. People nicknamed them "greenbucks" (from English "green backs"). Later, the Treasury maintained the tradition of issuing only green notes. The situation changed only in 2004 with the advent of banknotes of a different color. The $1 bill was first printed in 1862 with Salmon Chase (Secretary of the Treasury) on the front. The first banknotes were printed on special linen-cotton paper. The authenticity of the money was determined by one jagged edge - each series had unique features that were compared with the sample.