# How many other countries use the US dollar as their currency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485 "2003-08-02T02:30:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/21 "2003-08-03T01:43:44Z")
Somehow I would think that the use of the dollar overseas would just increase the incentive for counterfeiting. Are East Timor, Ecuador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau banks going to worry about the problem? Wouldn’t a bank owner have a great incentive to call some overseas printer (in Iran perhaps) to make him a bundle he could give to the next plantation owner on payroll day? Instantly the money is everywhere and noone cares. The local police bow to the rich and they have no FBI to investigate any questions. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/22 "2003-08-03T01:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boyo Jim \* > \*\*You statement is self-contradictory, and wrong. > \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/23 "2003-08-03T01:50:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boyo Jim \* > \*\*You statement is self-contradictory, and wrong. > \*\* You amuse me to no end! I will call my wife and have her convert everything into Balboas! Of course niether of us have never seen one. Ever. Even once. We do have some coins, same size as the US ones, same value. (I wonder if they are made in America.) Nope, Panama has no currency; only a local name for the Alimighty Dollar. Really, you are quite funny! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/24 "2003-08-03T04:33:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Paul in Saudi \* > \*\*You amuse me to no end! > > I will call my wife and have her convert everything into Balboas! Of course niether of us have never seen one. Ever. Even once. > > We do have some coins, same size as the US ones, same value. (I wonder if they are made in America.) > > Nope, Panama has no currency; only a local name for the Alimighty Dollar. > > Really, you are quite funny! Thanks. \*\* Because you’ve never seen a Balboa they don’t exist? Your first post said: > [@](#): > > I can assure you Panama uses the US Dollar and nothing else. Never has. We do call it a “Balboa” though. B/100 is the same as USD100. You call it a Balboa, and say it is equal to a dollar, but it doesn’t exist? Has no one in Panama ever seen one? You are apparently under the mistaken impression that currency must be made of paper. [The Library of Congress disagress with you.](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+pa0007)) The CIA (see my previous post) disagrees with you. [The government of Panama disagrees with you.](http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.pa/&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2B%2522government%2Bof%2Bpanama%2522%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DN%26as_qdr%3Dall) I repeat – you are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/25 "2003-08-03T04:43:01Z")
Sorry, in the Panama government link, in the keft column hit the “information” link under the “Misceláneos” heading. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/26 "2003-08-03T12:05:54Z")
I live in Panama, I have for over a decade. There is no other banknote in ciculation than the dollar. Full stop. The local name for the Dollar is (for some reason) the Balboa. Our coins have the same size content and value as the US ones. I buy Miami newspapers with them if I have some accidently in my pocket upon arriving in the US. Really, trust me; Dollars are the only currency in my hometown. Geesh! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/27 "2003-08-03T12:13:57Z")
You are still wrong. Currency does not have to be in paper form. If Panama has coins, Panama has currency. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/28 "2003-08-03T12:17:58Z")
I am glad we don’t have US currency for one reason and one reason only. The colour! Here I know a $5 is orange and a $20 is green and a $10 is blue. All your’s are green…damn I would hate to work in a dark night club there! Of course we have the new plastic fantastic money that can go through the washing machine and tumble drier and emerge wrinkle free. Oh yeah this is a good thing! While on the currency topic, I was working in a pub in London when I was handed a note with naked Africans on it. “Sorry we don’t take foreign currency” said I. This was met with a loud and vulgar tirade about how Scottish notes were NOT foreign. Now that’s a confusing scenario, Britain has too many different notes! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/29 "2003-08-03T12:30:09Z")
Well, I have been put in my place! The Balboa is real despite the fact it does not exist! Look, Panama has no currency. No monetary policy, identical interest rate as the US. It has no banknotes. It uses uses US coins alongside its own supplementary coinage. It is identical to the Dollar. It is the Dollar. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/30 "2003-08-03T13:04:50Z")
Belize accepts the USD. I think 1 USD = 2 BSD. Makes change easy. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/31 "2003-08-03T14:01:53Z")
As I said, if it has its own coins, it has its own currency. Currency does not have to be paper. The governments of Panama and the United States both list the Balboa as the official currency, in addition to the US dollar. Which part of this don’t you understand? ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/32 "2003-08-03T14:06:14Z")
BTW, **Boyo Jim** , **Paul in Saudi** has started a [Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=202036) about this. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/33 "2003-08-03T14:27:18Z")
Theres a difference between the unit of exchange and the unit of account. They don’t have to be the same thing. For example, back in the colonial days in the thirteen colonies, Britsh hard currency–coins–was virtually never seen. Instead, Spanish currency, such as the Spanish dollar, was used in most everyday transactions. However, the pound was still the official currency, so when it came time to write up the accounts, people would normally record everything as pounds, shillings, and pence. I know zero about Panama and the Balboa, but it may very well be a similar thing: the Balboa is the official unit of account, even though it doesn’t circulate. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/34 "2003-08-03T14:34:06Z")
Cuba also mints their own quarters, dimes and nickles. They are the same size as the US coins but carry different motifs. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/35 "2003-08-03T14:36:46Z")
Perhaps, but the Balboa (also a now-exinct beer, BTW) and the Dollar are on a par. They are the same thing. Bojo, you cease to amuse me. I honestly do not see what point you are making and frankly assume you are trying to be offensive. That being the case I shall not visit this thread again. Friends next time I hope. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/36 "2003-08-04T05:47:24Z")
If any of you is headed for Cambodia, at least for Siem Reap, the town closest to Angkor Wat (and Angkor Thom, and numerous other temples), take a bunch of small U.S. bills. Cambodia has its own official currency, the riel, but when you pay for a visa at the airport, when you buy a pass for the temples, when you pay for an exit visa, etc., those collecting the fees will want U.S. dollars. In fact, IIRC, for the visas, they won’t accept anything else (like Thai baht, which you would think would be fairly common there). The prices on the menus in restaurants are all in dollars. The souvenirs are priced in dollars. Just to make it even more interesting, there are no ATMs in the country at all. And if you try to cash a $100 travelers check at a local bank, they may or may not have enough currency to take care of it. When you buy something, breaking a $20 bill can be a problem. So, you need a fistful of ones and fives! As a capper, credit cards are accepted only at the larger hotels. For Cambodia, at least, the U.S. dollar may not be the official currency, but for all practical purposes it is. (This may not be true in Phnom Penh - I didn’t get there, so I can’t speak to the situation there, but I believe it’s much the same.) ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/37 "2003-08-04T07:07:29Z")
**Early Out** it’s the same in Phnom Penh. Many countries use USD unofficially as a second currency, even if that isn’t the ‘official CIA website factsheet’ version. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/38 "2003-08-04T07:15:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OxyMoron \* > Hum, I’m surprised no one mentioned Ecuador, which moved to the dollar in 2000. What, except for for jklann (4th post) and Boyo Jim (simulpost though). Sorry, just a laugh;) Just a point about the Scottish/English notes. they are perfectly interchangeable, and Scottish notes are certainly legal tenfer elsewhere in the UK, but I never accept them, for the simple reason that I se them so rarely, I wouldn’t know a fake from a real one. I think this is the reason some stores won’t take them either, aprticularly the higher denomination notes. In addition, these countries which use US banknotes (I asume most cannot print their own…now that would lead to chaos), do they effectively get their currency printed for free? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/39 "2003-08-04T17:31:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Andy \* > **Just a point about the Scottish/English notes. they are perfectly interchangeable, and Scottish notes are certainly legal tenfer elsewhere in the UK** I hate to disagree with a UK resident here, but I was pretty confident only Bank of England notes were legal tender throughout the UK, while notes issued by Scottish banks were only in Scotland. However, I googled around. The [Royal Bank of Scotland](http://www.rbs.co.uk/Group_Information/Memory_Bank/Our_History/Our_Banknotes/default.htm) itself says: > [@](#): > > There are more Royal Bank banknotes circulating in Scotland than those of any other bank but, with the exception of temporary provisions during both World Wars, Scottish banknotes have never been ‘legal tender’ even in Scotland. Today, no banknote qualifies as ‘legal tender’ north of the Border, although they remain legal currency. The notes may also circulate freely in England and Wales, although branches of the Royal Bank there may not issue them. [This site](http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/1_7.html) says: > [@](#): > > Scottish bank notes are not legal tender in Scotland. English bank notes of denomination less than 5UKP were legal tender in Scotland under Currency and Bank Notes Act 1954. Now, with the removal of BoE 1UKP notes, only coins constitute legal tender in Scotland. English bank notes are only legal tender in England, Wales, The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. In Scotland, 1 pound coins are legal tender to any amount, 20ps and 50ps are legal tender up to 10 pounds; 10p and 5ps to 5 pounds and 2p and 1p coins are legal tender to 20p (separately or in combination). 2 pounds coins and (if you can get hold of one) 5 pound coins are also legal tender to unlimited amounts, as are gold coins of the realm at face value (in Scotland at least). > > Northern Irish notes are not legal tender anywhere, a situation similar to Scottish notes. This makes Scotland a land totally without legally accepted banknotes. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485/40 "2003-08-04T20:12:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Whack-a-Mole \* > \*\*Many tourists who exchanged their dollars to rubles were surprised to find that no one…including the soviet banks…would exchange their money back to dollars when they left. \*\* Didn’t Disneyland have a similar policy once? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-other-countries-use-the-us-dollar-as-their-currency/192485.md?page=3)