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2007, No. 6
Posted 2007-03-01

U.S. Currency at Home and Abroad

by Richard G. Anderson and Marcela M. Williams

Currency remains the most familiar medium for face-to-face transactions in the U.S. economy. In addition, U.S. currency, more than any other of the world’s currencies, is widely held as a store of value and used as a medium of exchange outside its home country. In 2005, approximately 50 percent of all U.S. currency in circulation, or about $350 billion, was held outside the United States.