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The History of the Dollar

From the first Continental dollar in 1775 to the fixed-supply $1 coin today. Two and a half centuries of printing, pegging, and promises.

1. 1775

   The Continental dollar

   Congress issues paper “Continentals” to fund the Revolution. Overprinting makes them nearly worthless and gives English the phrase “not worth a Continental”.

2. 1785

   The dollar is born

   The United States adopts the dollar as its official unit of money, named after the Spanish silver dollar that had circulated in the colonies for over a century.

3. 1792

   The Coinage Act

   The dollar is defined in gold and silver and the US Mint is created. Money has a fixed, measurable weight in metal.

4. 1861

   The first greenbacks

   To finance the Civil War, the Treasury issues Demand Notes, nicknamed greenbacks for their color. All US currency issued since 1861 remains valid at full face value.

5. 1862

   Legal tender by law

   The Legal Tender Act makes paper dollars money by decree, not by metal backing. A turning point: value now rests on law and trust.

6. 1869

   Washington appears on the $1

   George Washington's portrait appears on the one dollar note for the first time. He never wanted his face on money.

7. 1900

   The Gold Standard Act

   The dollar is officially tied to gold. Every dollar in theory claims a fixed amount of metal held by the Treasury.

8. 1913

   The Federal Reserve

   The Fed is created and takes over issuing currency as Federal Reserve Notes, the paper dollars still used today.

9. 1933

   Gold convertibility ends at home

   Franklin D. Roosevelt ends gold redemption for citizens and bans private gold hoarding. Americans can no longer swap dollars for gold.

10. 1935

    The modern $1 bill

    The familiar design arrives: Washington on the front, the Great Seal pyramid and eye on the back.

11. 1944

    Bretton Woods

    The dollar becomes the world's reserve currency, pegged to gold at $35 an ounce. Other currencies peg to the dollar.

12. 1963

    In God We Trust

    The motto is added to the $1 bill, and Federal Reserve Notes replace Silver Certificates. The promise of silver disappears from the paper.

13. 1971

    The gold window closes

    Nixon suspends gold convertibility for foreign governments. The dollar becomes pure fiat, backed by trust alone. Printing no longer needs metal.

14. 2008

    Quantitative easing

    After the financial crisis, the Fed creates trillions of new dollars to buy assets. Money creation goes digital and scales up.

15. 2020

    Pandemic stimulus

    Trillions more are created in months. Inflation follows, and the dollar's purchasing power drops at its fastest pace in decades.

16. 2024

    $1: the dollar that can't be printed

    The $1 coin launches on Solana with a fixed supply of 1 billion, forever. No central bank, no printer, no inflation. The timeline's answer.