Here in the United States, there are now five coins and six bills in use everyday. They all have pictures or portraits of presidents or other important statesmen on the front. They have artwork of buildings, seals or symbols on the backside.

Look at this table to see what they are...

As the United States and other countries developed their systems of money, it was very common to honor great leaders by putting their picture on the money itself. Symbols that are important to that country are also used a lot. For example, the eagle symbol came from an eagle named Peter who lived at the first United States Mint in Philadelphia, he was the model for the silver dollar coins used from 1836 to 1839. After he died, he was stuffed and mounted, and now he's on display in the lobby of the Philadelphia Mint.

In 1979, a dollar coin with a picture of Susan B. Anthony was minted. She was a leader in the movement to allow women to vote in the late 1800's. That coin had a portrait of Susan on the front, and on the back it had the insignia of the Apollo 11 lunar landing with an American Eagle. People did not like using the new coin because it was almost the same size as the quarter, it caused too much confusion and so only a small number of them were ever circulated. Over 400 million of these coins had to be put into storage.

The use of the word dollar can be traced back to a large silver Austrian coin. It was minted around 1815 in Joachimsthal, Bohemia. It became known as the Joachimsthaler. Soon the name was shortened to the "thaler." In English its new name became "dollar."

Did You Know?

You can actually purchase uncut sheets of money from the US Bureau of Engraving & Printing!