Meet... the US currency !

Are you one of the luckiest people with 5 days off this week ? In any case, I'm spending one of these days to write another post about money. As you know, some weeks ago, I wrote an entry on money vocab and another one related to the song : The Price Tag by Jessie J. Today I'm writing an entry about the US currency. I chose to write an entry about this given that US currency is quite interesting and there are many words to refer to the different US coins or notes. Do you know them all ? Let's see : 

As you know, the US currency is the dollar and as usual US dollars are divided into coins and banknotes. Let's start by analyzing coins :

1. Penny : A penny is worth one cent and it is the smallest dollar unit. You can't practically buy anything with a cent. 

2. Nickel : A nickel is the five-cent coin. It receives this name because it is made of nickel (only 25%).

3. Dime : A dime is the American ten-cent coin. It is the smallest coin in diametre. It is called dime because it refers to the tenth part of a dollar. 

4. Quarter : A quarter is a coin worth 25 cents, that is a quarter of a dollar.

5. Half dollar : A half dollar has a value of 50 cents.

6. Dollar coin : It is quite a strange coin, given that one-dollar currency is represented by means of a banknote and not a coin. It is a special coin for me, one that I cherish and treasure, as it's become a souvenir from my honeymoon to New York and a reminder of the happy moments I lived there !

Now, let's continue by showing US banknotes. There are seven notes in total, worth 1 dollar, 2 dollars, 5 dollars, 10 dollars, 20 dollars, 50 dollars and 100 dollars. Unlike in Spain, there are no 200-dollar or 500-dollar banknotes. 

Other quirks related to US currency and money

• Bucks : The word 'buck' ('bucks' in plural) is a synonym for dollar in informal English and is used a lot by American citizens. In the UK, however, they have pounds and in informal English they use the word 'quid' instead.

• How do you write and pronounce amounts of money ? Well, to write an amount in English, firstly, you have to write the symbol of the currency, then the total amount. However, if there are cents (or pence) involved, you must write them with a period (not a comma). To pronounce the price correctly you must follow three steps : 1) Firstly, you pronounce the number of dollars (or pounds, euros or other currency). 2) Secondly, you say name of the currency (it is not necessary if you are in the country where the currency is used); 3) Finally you pronounce the amount of cents / pence without saying the words 'cents' or 'pence'.

          $ 17.99 = seventeen (dollars) ninety-nine

• Other quirks about amounts of money : For normal people, big amounts of money are difficult to read and pronounce. So, in informal English, they read big amounts of money like dates, that is, in twos : 

         $1250 = twelve fifty dollars

   

         Besides, they use the word 'grand' instead of thousand.

        $20,000 = twenty grand

• US mottos : In the coins and banknotes of the US you can read some of the country's mottos.  E Pluribus Unum (out of many one) and In God We Trust, the former (out of many, one) indicating that out of thirteen colonies emerged a new nation, and the latter somehow illustrates the importance of religion for the Americans. 

Money in America could be quite interesting, don't you think? See you next week and remember that you can always post your comments, they'll be really appreciated!