WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S.
Census Bureau:
LEGAL TENDER
Profile America — Saturday,
February 25th. Paper money has circulated in North America since 1690, when the
Massachusetts Bay Colony issued some to paper over — so to speak —
the shortage of coins. But these were just promissory notes from
governing bodies. That changed on this date in 1862 when Congress
passed the Legal Tender Act, fixing paper money as a means of
paying the government's considerable Civil War bills with something
other than gold or silver. One result was that greenbacks became a
means of exchange for all private transactions. Currently, there is
close to $1.5 trillion in cash
circulating the country and the world. A good portion passes
through America's roughly 117 million households, which earn a
median annual income of about $53,500. You can find more facts about
America's people, places and economy, from the American Community
Survey, at www.census.gov.
Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, p. 841
Currency in circulation/accessed 12/8/2016:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CURRCIR
Legal Tender Ac/accessed 12/8/2016:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=012/llsl012.db&recNum=0376
Households:
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_5YR/S1101
Household median earnings:
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/00
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and
Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn
from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or
narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census
Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments,
ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for
"Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu).
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-february-25-legal-tender-300410630.html
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau