Background

American currency is based upon the United States dollar (symbol $), which uses the decimal system. The smallest denomination is 1 cent (symbol ¢). There are 100 cents (100¢) in 1 dollar ($1). Since the dollar is based upon the decimal system you will often see prices written such that whole dollars appear to the left of the decimal point and subdivisions of whole dollars (cents) appear to the right of the decimal point such as $10.31, $5.99, $124.67, or $1,500.65. So a price written as $65.36 means sixty-five dollars and thirty-six cents (36/100 of 1 dollar). A price does not have to have both dollars and cents. It can have only whole dollars as in $5 (five dollars), or it can have only cents as in $0.99 (ninety-nine cents).

The term dollar is widely used by many other countries of the world but it is not the same as the U.S. dollar. Other countries that use the term dollar for their currency include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Bermuda, Hong Kong (not a country but part of China), and several others. Strangely enough, there are some countries in the world that actually use United States dollars as their official currency. These include El Salvador, Ecuador, and East Timor. In international trade the price is often preceded by US$ or USD to designate the price in U.S. dollars such as US$1,000,000 or USD1 million.

In the U.S. all currency is produced and controlled by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. There are two bureaus of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that actually produce all American currency. Denominations of less than, or equal to, 1 dollar are issued as coins and produced by the United States Mint. Denominations equal to, or greater than, 1 dollar are issued as Federal Reserve notes (paper money), sometimes called banknotes, and printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Common slang used by Americans to refer to price is often the word “buck” or "bucks". A price of $1 is a "buck"; a price over $1 is referred to using the plural "bucks". For example, if the price of an item is $1 we say it costs "one buck". If the price is $20 we say it costs "twenty bucks". The word "buck" or "bucks" should be used to refer to prices that are whole dollar amounts only. For example if the price of an item is $20.25 we say it costs "twenty dollars and twenty-five cents"; we would not say "twenty bucks and twenty-five cents". Another common word, "bill" or "bills", is used to refer to paper money. Any single banknote is called a "bill"; multiple banknotes are called "bills". For example, if someone wants you to give them one $20 banknote they might ask for a "twenty dollar bill". If they want you to give them two $20 banknotes they would ask for "two twenty dollar bills".

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Coins
Banknotes