American Currency WI

WI, instead of calling the currency of the US the "dollar", the Founding Fathers decided that America's currency should be called something else, like the "US dinar" [1], or the "American Pound" [2]? What would happen as a result? What would the effects be, reaching into the present day?

(I'd stick to practical choices--somehow, I don't think "American hryvnia" [3] or "US ngultrum" [4] would catch on, except in the ASB forum :D)

Notes:
[1] currency of ancient Rome, Anglicized from "denarius"
[2] currency of Britain
[3] currency of Ukraine
[4] currency of Bhutan
 
I don't think calling it something else would matter much at all except to change some of the lingo used in today's global economy.

But other changes such as making the money a true decimal system, tying its value to that of gold as part of the constitution, or tying its value to the pound stirling early on, would have major repercussions as the US became a global economic power house.

Of course that's just my two dinars.

Benjamin
 
One subtle change might be having the cash (not just coin) amounts of $10, $20, etc. be referred to as eagles, double eagles, half-eagles, and so forth. This would probably require that the pictures on them be of eagles and such, rather than Presidents and such.
 
I can't see that they would. Do ANY countries' currency officially call themselves by their country name? I mean we might REFER to Egyptian Pounds, or Turkish Lire, or Australian Dollars, but in those countries aren't they just called pounds, lire and dollars?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
tying its value to that of gold as part of the constitution
The Founding Fathers did try to tie Money and Gold together in the Constitution.
Art. I Sec. 10 Cl. 1
No State shall make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts;
ie Debts = Taxes in this


IIRC the First US money was based on the Eagle.
These five main base-units of denomination were the cent, the dime, the dollar, and the eagle, Where a cent is 10 mills, where a dime is 10 cents, a dollar is 10 dimes, and an eagle is 10 dollars.
 
I can't see that they would. Do ANY countries' currency officially call themselves by their country name? I mean we might REFER to Egyptian Pounds, or Turkish Lire, or Australian Dollars, but in those countries aren't they just called pounds, lire and dollars?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
Well the previous version of the US dollar was the United States Note. Of course everyone would refer to them as dollars the same way that we don't refer to current dollar as Federal Reserve Notes.

602px-USNotes.jpg
 
OTL, the US went with dollar, because the Spanish coin called that (in English) was the functional unit of currency.

Other options.
* keep the same currency, call it a payso.
* invent a new currency. Several states used shillings, say. The Shilling would be easy. Or pound.
 
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