Dollar

Dollar, monetary unit originating in the 16th century as the German thaler, named after the Joachimsthal silver mines in Bohemia. It was used widely in the West Indies and the American mainland in the colonial period because of its standard weight and purity. Divided into 100 cents, it now is the basis of currency of many countries worldwide. Since World War II, the U.S. dollar has become the basic currency unit of the international monetary and economic system. During the 1980s and 1990s the economic success of Germany and Japan has lifted the value of their currency — the German Mark and Japanese yen — to a level that rivals the dollar in international importance.

See also: Money.