The British colonies in North America were chronically short of coins and were forced to use various substitutes including wampum, like the native inhabitants, and tobacco. The enthusiastic adoption of paper money and its suppression by the British was a factor in provoking the American revolution, which was financed by hyperinflation. Ever since independence banking has been the subject of political controversy and although the US emerged from the two World Wars as the dominant superpower the US financial system may be in relative decline.

The Origins of the term Dollar and the Dollar Sign

The word “dollar” was used by Shakespeare and derives from “thaler” the name of a European coin. An outline of the convoluted history of central European thalers, Scandinavian dalers, the Spanish peso, the American dollar, and dollars used in Britain and the British Empire, and in China.