Dollar

The dollar is the name of the official currency in several countries, dependencies and other regions, including Australia, Canada, the [East Caribbean]?, Liberia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States. The dollar was also in use in Scotland during the 17th century. It is represented by the symbol $, placed before the dollar amount.

A few nations outside of US jurisdiction use the United States dollar (USD) as their official currency. These nations include Ecuador, Palau, East Timor, and the Federated States of Micronesia. In December 2001, Argentina was considering converting to the dollar.

The name is related to the historic currencies Thaler (Germany) and Daler (Sweden). The name originally came from Austria's Tallar gold mines, which were the largest gold strike in history.