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78-607: The South–North Water Transfer Project , also translated as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project , is a multi-decade infrastructure mega-project in China that aims to channel 44.8 cubic kilometers (44.8 billion cubic meters) of fresh water each year from the Yangtze River in southern China to the more arid and industrialized north through three canal systems: Mao Zedong discussed

156-487: A dollar are emitted as Federal Reserve Notes , disregarding these special cases: In the 16th century, Count Hieronymus Schlick of Bohemia began minting coins known as joachimstalers , named for Joachimstal , the valley in which the silver was mined. In turn, the valley's name is titled after Saint Joachim , whereby thal or tal , a cognate of the English word dale , is German for 'valley.' The joachimstaler

234-757: A dollar, and dimes at 0.100 of a dollar. After the adoption of the United States Constitution , the U.S. dollar was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 . It specified a "dollar" based on the Spanish milled dollar to contain 371 + 4 ⁄ 16 grains of fine silver, or 416.0 grains (26.96 g) of "standard silver" of fineness 371.25/416 = 89.24%; as well as an "eagle" to contain 247 + 4 ⁄ 8 grains of fine gold, or 270.0 grains (17.50 g) of 22 karat or 91.67% fine gold. Alexander Hamilton arrived at these numbers based on

312-565: A dollar; and the eagle , or ten dollars. The current relevance of these units: The Spanish peso or dollar was historically divided into eight reales (colloquially, bits ) – hence pieces of eight . Americans also learned counting in non-decimal bits of 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 cents before 1857 when Mexican bits were more frequently encountered than American cents; in fact this practice survived in New York Stock Exchange quotations until 2001. In 1854, Secretary of

390-575: A limited extent" as money. Treasury Notes were again printed to help resolve the reduction in public revenues resulting from the Panic of 1837 and the Panic of 1857 , as well as to help finance the Mexican–American War and the Civil War . Paper money was issued again in 1862 without the backing of precious metals due to the Civil War . In addition to Treasury Notes, Congress in 1861 authorized

468-708: A long record of poor delivery". Megaprojects attract significant public attention because of substantial impacts on communities , environment , and budgets , and the high costs involved. Megaprojects can also be defined as "initiatives that are physical, very expensive, and public". Megaprojects include special economic zones , public buildings , power plants , dams , airports , hospitals , seaports , bridges , highways , tunnels , railways , wastewater projects, oil and natural gas extraction projects, aerospace projects, weapons systems , information technology systems, large-scale sporting events and, more recently, mixed use waterfront redevelopments; however,

546-571: A number of techno-socio-economic and organizational challenges. The OFCCP Mega Construction Project (Megaproject) Program involves projects valued at over $ 35 million. Megaprojects are often affected by corruption, leading to higher cost and lower benefit. According to the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), megaprojects are characterized both by "extreme complexity (both in technical and human terms) and by

624-678: A series of revisions to the gold peg was implemented, culminating in the Nixon Shock of August 15, 1971, which suddenly ended the convertibility of dollars to gold. The U.S. dollar has since floated freely on the foreign exchange markets . Congress continued to issue paper money after the Civil War, the latest of which is the Federal Reserve Note that was authorized by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 . Since

702-491: A system of reservoirs, tunnels, and natural rivers. In 2008, construction costs for the eastern and central routes was estimated to be 254.6 billion yuan ($ 37.44 billion). The government had budgeted only 53.87 billion yuan ($ 7.9 billion), less than a quarter of the total cost, at that time. This included 26 billion from the central government and special accounts, 8 billion from local governments, and almost 20 billion in loans. As of 2008, around 30 billion yuan had been spent on

780-487: A treasury assay of the average fine silver content of a selection of worn Spanish dollars , which came out to be 371 grains. Combined with the prevailing gold-silver ratio of 15, the standard for gold was calculated at 371/15 = 24.73 grains fine gold or 26.98 grains 22K gold. Rounding the latter to 27.0 grains finalized the dollar's standard to 24.75 grains of fine gold or 24.75*15 = 371.25 grains = 24.0566 grams = 0.7735 troy ounces of fine silver. The same coinage act also set

858-490: Is collective benefits; for example electricity for everybody (who can pay), road access (for those that have cars), etc. They may also serve as a means to open frontiers. Megaprojects have been criticised for their top-down planning processes and their ill effects on certain communities. Large scale projects often advantage one group of people while disadvantaging another, for instance, the Three Gorges Dam in China,

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936-441: Is expected one cubic kilometer of water will have been transferred in 2018. As of October 2017, water had reached Tianjin. Tianjin is expected to receive 1 km/year. The Eastern route is not expected to supply Beijing, which is to be supplied by the central route. The completed line will be slightly over 1,152 km (716 miles) long, equipped with 23 pumping stations with a power capacity of 454 megawatts. An important element of

1014-652: Is in Federal Reserve Notes (the remaining $ 50 billion is in the form of coins and older-style United States Notes ). As of September 20, 2023, the Federal Reserve estimated that the total amount of currency in circulation was approximately US$ 2.33 trillion . Article I , Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution provides that Congress has the power "[t]o coin money ." Laws implementing this power are currently codified in Title 31 of

1092-787: Is often expressed by critics of megaprojects during the planning phase. If the megaproject is delivered in a country with relevant corruption the likelihood and magnitude of having overbudgets increases. One of the most challenging aspects of megaprojects is obtaining sufficient funding. Alan Altshuler and David Luberoff have found that creative and politically adept political leadership is required to secure resources as well as generate public support, mollify critics, and manage conflict through many years of planning, authorization and implementation. Other challenges faced by those planning megaprojects include laws and regulations that empower community groups, contested information and methodologies, high levels of uncertainty, avoiding impacts on neighborhoods and

1170-460: Is that it is derived from the Pillars of Hercules on the Spanish coat of arms of the Spanish dollar . These Pillars of Hercules on the silver Spanish dollar coins take the form of two vertical bars ( || ) and a swinging cloth band in the shape of an S . Yet another explanation suggests that the dollar sign was formed from the capital letters U and S written or printed one on top of

1248-666: Is the most widely used currency in international transactions , and a free-floating currency . It is also the official currency in several countries and the de facto currency in many others, with Federal Reserve Notes (and, in a few cases, U.S. coins) used in circulation. The monetary policy of the United States is conducted by the Federal Reserve System , which acts as the nation's central bank . As of February 10, 2021, currency in circulation amounted to US$ 2.10 trillion , $ 2.05 trillion of which

1326-468: The Coinage Act of 1834 the dollar's fine gold equivalent was revised to 23.2 grains; it was slightly adjusted to 23.22 grains (1.505 g) in 1837 (gold-silver ratio ~16). The same act also resolved the difficulty in minting the "standard silver" of 89.24% fineness by revising the dollar's alloy to 412.5 grains, 90% silver, still containing 371.25 grains fine silver. Gold was also revised to 90% fineness: 25.8 grains gross, 23.22 grains fine gold. Following

1404-551: The Comstock Lode in the 1870s. This was the so-called "Crime of '73". The Gold Standard Act of 1900 repealed the U.S. dollar's historic link to silver and defined it solely as 23.22 grains (1.505 g) of fine gold (or $ 20.67 per troy ounce of 480 grains). In 1933, gold coins were confiscated by Executive Order 6102 under Franklin D. Roosevelt , and in 1934 the standard was changed to $ 35 per troy ounce fine gold, or 13.71 grains (0.888 g) per dollar. After 1968

1482-545: The Continental Congress resolved that the money unit of the United States, the dollar, would contain 375.64 grains of fine silver; on August 8, 1786, the Continental Congress continued that definition and further resolved that the money of account, corresponding with the division of coins, would proceed in a decimal ratio , with the sub-units being mills at 0.001 of a dollar, cents at 0.010 of

1560-526: The Dutch pioneered in modern-day New York in the 17th century the use and the counting of money in silver dollars in the form of German-Dutch reichsthalers and native Dutch leeuwendaalders ('lion dollars'), it was the ubiquitous Spanish American eight-real coin which became exclusively known as the dollar since the 18th century. The colloquialism buck(s) (much like the British quid for

1638-676: The Grand Canal and will be used to divert a fraction of the total flow of the Yangtze River to northern China. According to local hydrologists , the entire flow of the Yangtze at the point of its discharge into the East China Sea is, on average, 956 km per year; the annual flow does not fall below approximately 600 km per year, even in the driest years. As the project progresses, the amount of water to be diverted to

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1716-670: The U.S. Code , under Section 5112, which prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued. These coins are both designated in the section as " legal tender " in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, in contrast to the American Silver Eagle which is pure silver . Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins, which have values ranging from one cent ( U.S. Penny ) to 100 dollars. These other coins are more fully described in Coins of

1794-849: The Ying River in Yuzhou ( 34°11′05″N 113°26′18″E  /  34.18472°N 113.43833°E  / 34.18472; 113.43833 ); and the Yellow River northeast of Zhengzhou ( 34°52′55″N 113°13′14″E  /  34.88194°N 113.22056°E  / 34.88194; 113.22056 ); as well as its entrance into the southwestern suburbs of Beijing at the Juma River in Zhuozhou , Hebei ( 39°30′26.3″N 115°47′30.2″E  /  39.507306°N 115.791722°E  / 39.507306; 115.791722 ). The whole project

1872-401: The pound sterling ) is often used to refer to dollars of various nations, including the U.S. dollar. This term, dating to the 18th century, may have originated with the colonial leather trade, or it may also have originated from a poker term. Greenback is another nickname, originally applied specifically to the 19th-century Demand Note dollars, which were printed black and green on

1950-401: The unit of account of the United States. "Dollar" is one of the first words of Section 9, in which the term refers to the Spanish milled dollar , or the coin worth eight Spanish reales . In 1792, the U.S. Congress passed the Coinage Act , of which Section 9 authorized the production of various coins, including: Dollars or Units —each to be of the value of a Spanish milled dollar as

2028-593: The Eastern Route will be a tunnel crossing under the Yellow River, on the border of Dongping and Dong'e counties of Shandong Province. The crossing will consist of two 9.3 m diameter horizontal tunnels, positioned 70 m under the bed of the Yellow River. Due to the topography of the Yangtze Plain and the North China Plain , pumping stations will be needed to raise water from the Yangtze to

2106-522: The Eastern route officially began on 27 December 2002, and water was expected to reach Tianjin by 2013. However, in addition to construction delays, water pollution has affected the viability of the route. Initially, the route was expected to provide water for the provinces of Shandong , Jiangsu , and Hebei , with trial operations to begin in mid-2013. Water started arriving in Shandong in 2014, and it

2184-617: The Three Gorges Dam to Danjiangkou Reservoir. Construction of this project, named the Yinjiangbuhan tunnel, was announced in July 2022. It is set to take an estimated ten years to complete. Another major challenge was the resettlement of around 330,000 people who lived near Danjiangkou Reservoir at its former lower elevation and along the route of the project. On 18 October 2009, Chinese officials began to relocate residents from

2262-540: The Treasury James Guthrie proposed creating $ 100, $ 50, and $ 25 gold coins, to be referred to as a union , half union , and quarter union , respectively, thus implying a denomination of 1 Union = $ 100. However, no such coins were ever struck, and only patterns for the $ 50 half union exist. When currently issued in circulating form, denominations less than or equal to a dollar are emitted as U.S. coins , while denominations greater than or equal to

2340-854: The Treasury to borrow $ 50 million in the form of Demand Notes , which did not bear interest but could be redeemed on demand for precious metals. However, by December 1861, the Union government's supply of specie was outstripped by demand for redemption and they were forced to suspend redemption temporarily. In February 1862 Congress passed the Legal Tender Act of 1862 , issuing United States Notes , which were not redeemable on demand and bore no interest, but were legal tender , meaning that creditors had to accept them at face value for any payment except for public debts and import tariffs. However, silver and gold coins continued to be issued, resulting in

2418-555: The U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar , divided it into 100 cents , and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes , popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color. The U.S. dollar was originally defined under a bimetallic standard of 371.25 grains (24.057 g) (0.7734375 troy ounces) fine silver or, from 1834 , 23.22 grains (1.505 g) fine gold, or $ 20.67 per troy ounce . The Gold Standard Act of 1900 linked

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2496-420: The United States and Germany prevented developments due to environmental and social concerns. More recently, new types of megaprojects have been identified that no longer follow the old models of being singular and monolithic in their purposes, but have become quite flexible and diverse, such as waterfront redevelopment schemes that seem to offer something to everybody. However, just like the old megaprojects,

2574-450: The United States and to supervise its banking system, particularly in the aftermath of the Panic of 1907 . For most of the post-war period, the U.S. government has financed its own spending by borrowing heavily from the dollar-lubricated global capital markets, in debts denominated in its own currency and at minimal interest rates. This ability to borrow heavily without facing a significant balance of payments crisis has been described as

2652-530: The United States dollar . Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution provides that "a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time", which is further specified by Section 331 of Title 31 of the U.S. Code. The sums of money reported in the "Statements" are currently expressed in U.S. dollars, thus the U.S. dollar may be described as

2730-680: The United States until the Coinage Act of 1857 . In particular, colonists' familiarity with the Spanish two- real quarter peso was the reason for issuing a quasi-decimal 25-cent quarter dollar coin rather than a 20-cent coin. For the relationship between the Spanish dollar and the individual state colonial currencies, see Connecticut pound , Delaware pound , Georgia pound , Maryland pound , Massachusetts pound , New Hampshire pound , New Jersey pound , New York pound , North Carolina pound , Pennsylvania pound , Rhode Island pound , South Carolina pound , and Virginia pound . On July 6, 1785,

2808-543: The United States was a significant recipient of wartime gold inflows. After the United States emerged as an even stronger global superpower during the Second World War , the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 established the U.S. dollar as the world's primary reserve currency and the only post-war currency linked to gold. Despite all links to gold being severed in 1971, the dollar continues to be

2886-596: The Yellow River crossing; farther north, the water will be flowing downhill in an aqueduct. The central route, known colloquially as the Grand Aqueduct, runs from Danjiangkou Reservoir on the Han River , a tributary of the Yangtze, to Beijing. This project involved raising the height of the Danjiangkou Dam by increasing the dam's crest elevation from 162 m to 176.6 m above sea level . This addition to

2964-498: The areas of Hubei and Henan provinces that would be affected by the project. The completed route of the Grand Aqueduct is about 1,264 km long and initially provided 9.5 km of water annually. By 2030, the project is slated to increase this transfer to 12–13 km per year. Although the transfer will be lower in dry years, it is projected that it will be able to provide a flow of at least 6.2 km/year at all times with 95% confidence. Industries are prohibited from locating on

3042-521: The average Spanish dollar in circulation. The new U.S. silver dollar of 371.25 grains (24.057 g) therefore compared favorably and was received at par with the Spanish dollar for foreign payments, and after 1803 the United States Mint had to suspend making this coin out of its limited resources since it failed to stay in domestic circulation. It was only after Mexican independence in 1821 when their peso's fine silver content of 377.1 grains

3120-500: The backside, created by Abraham Lincoln to finance the North for the Civil War . It is still used to refer to the U.S. dollar (but not to the dollars of other countries). The term greenback is also used by the financial press in other countries, such as Australia , New Zealand , South Africa , and India . Other well-known names of the dollar as a whole in denominations include greenmail , green , and dead presidents ,

3198-440: The buying and selling of goods. This allowed the value of things to remain fairly constant over time, except for the influx and outflux of gold and silver in the nation's economy. Though a Spanish dollar freshly minted after 1772 theoretically contained 417.7 grains of silver of fineness 130/144 (or 377.1 grains fine silver), reliable assays of the period in fact confirmed a fine silver content of 370.95 grains (24.037 g) for

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3276-749: The canal's intake at the Danjiangkou Reservoir ( 32°40′26″N 111°42′32″E  /  32.67389°N 111.70889°E  / 32.67389; 111.70889 ); its crossing of the Baihe River north of Nanyang , Henan ( 33°6′41″N 112°37′30″E  /  33.11139°N 112.62500°E  / 33.11139; 112.62500 ); the Shahe River in Lushan County ( 33°42′49″N 112°56′40″E  /  33.71361°N 112.94444°E  / 33.71361; 112.94444 );

3354-456: The construction of the eastern (5.66 billion yuan) and central routes (24.82 billion yuan). Costs of the projects have increased significantly. The project required resettling at least 330,000 people in central China. Critics have warned the water diversion will cause environmental damage, and some villagers said officials had forced them to sign agreements to relocate. In 2013, Radio Free Asia reported that fish farmers on Dongping Lake , on

3432-414: The currency, a practice compared to the policies of European monarchs. The currency as we know it today did not get the faces they currently have until after the early 20th century; before that "heads" side of coinage used profile faces and striding, seated, and standing figures from Greek and Roman mythology and composite Native Americans. The last coins to be converted to profiles of historic Americans were

3510-412: The dam's height allows the water level in the reservoir to rise from 157 m to 170 m above sea level and thus permits the flow into the water diversion canal to begin downhill, pulled by gravity into the lower elevation of the canals. The central route crosses the North China Plain . The canal was constructed to create a continuous downhill flow all the way from the Danjiangkou Reservoir to Beijing without

3588-632: The depreciation of the newly printed notes through Gresham's law . In 1869, Supreme Court ruled in Hepburn v. Griswold that Congress could not require creditors to accept United States Notes, but overturned that ruling the next year in the Legal Tender Cases . In 1875, Congress passed the Specie Payment Resumption Act , requiring the Treasury to allow U.S. Notes to be redeemed for gold after January 1, 1879. Though

3666-668: The dime (1946), the half Dollar (1948), and the Dollar (1971). After the American Revolution , the Thirteen Colonies became independent . Freed from British monetary regulations, they each issued £sd paper money to pay for military expenses. The Continental Congress also began issuing "Continental Currency" denominated in Spanish dollars. For its value relative to states' currencies, see Early American currency . Continental currency depreciated badly during

3744-490: The discontinuation of all other types of notes (Gold Certificates in 1933, Silver Certificates in 1963, and United States Notes in 1971), U.S. dollar notes have since been issued exclusively as Federal Reserve Notes . The U.S. dollar first emerged as an important international reserve currency in the 1920s, displacing the British pound sterling as it emerged from the First World War relatively unscathed and since

3822-421: The dollar came under the gold standard de jure only after 1900, the bimetallic era was ended de facto when the Coinage Act of 1873 suspended the minting of the standard silver dollar of 412.5 Troy grains = 26.73 g; 0.859 ozt, the only fully legal tender coin that individuals could convert bullion into in unlimited (or Free silver ) quantities, and right at the onset of the silver rush from

3900-400: The dollar solely to gold. From 1934, its equivalence to gold was revised to $ 35 per troy ounce . In 1971 all links to gold were repealed. The U.S. dollar became an important international reserve currency after the First World War , and displaced the pound sterling as the world's primary reserve currency by the Bretton Woods Agreement towards the end of the Second World War . The dollar

3978-544: The environment, and attempting to solve a wicked problem . USD This is an accepted version of this page The United States dollar ( symbol : $ ; currency code : USD ; also abbreviated US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies ; referred to as the dollar , U.S. dollar , American dollar , or colloquially buck ) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries . The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced

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4056-421: The future as more water is transferred and the flow rate increases. 30°02′30″N 90°36′00″E  /  30.0417°N 90.6000°E  / 30.0417; 90.6000 Mega-project Megaprojects refer not only to construction projects but also decommissioning projects, which are projects that can reach multi-billion budgets, and have a high level of innovation and complexity, and are affected by

4134-524: The general economy has been a popular policy measure since the economic crisis of the 1930s. Recent examples are the 2008–2009 Chinese economic stimulus program , the 2008 European Union stimulus plan , and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . Megaprojects often raise capital based on expected returns—though projects often go overbudget and over time, and market conditions like commodity prices can change. Concern at cost overruns

4212-512: The idea for a mass engineering project as an answer to China's water problems as early as 1952. He reportedly said, "there's plenty of water in the south, not much water in the north. If at all possible, borrowing some water would be good". Construction of the project began in 2003. By 2014, more than $ 79 billion had been spent, making it one of the most ambitious and expensive engineering projects in human history. The Eastern Route Project (ERP), or Jiangdu Hydro Project, consists of an upgrade to

4290-436: The largest hydroelectric project in the world, required the displacement of 1.2 million farmers. In the 1970s, the highway revolts in some Western nations saw urban activists opposing government plans to demolish buildings for freeway route construction, on the basis that such demolitions would unfairly disadvantage the urban working class and benefit commuters. Anti-nuclear protests against proposed nuclear power plants in

4368-397: The latter of which referring to the deceased presidents pictured on most bills. Dollars in general have also been known as bones (e.g. "twenty bones" = $ 20). The newer designs, with portraits displayed in the main body of the obverse (rather than in cameo insets), upon paper color-coded by denomination, are sometimes referred to as bigface notes or Monopoly money . Piastre

4446-401: The modern-day World Bank Group , establishing the infrastructure for conducting international payments and accessing the global capital markets using the U.S. dollar. The monetary policy of the United States is conducted by the Federal Reserve System , which acts as the nation's central bank . It was founded in 1913 under the Federal Reserve Act in order to furnish an elastic currency for

4524-428: The most common megaprojects are in the categories of hydroelectric facilities, nuclear power plants, and large public transportation projects. Megaprojects can also include large-scale high-cost initiatives in scientific research and infrastructure, such as the sequencing of the human genome , a significant global advance in genetics and biotechnology . The logic on which many of the typical megaprojects are built

4602-762: The need for pumping stations. The greatest engineering challenge of the route was building two tunnels under the Yellow River to carry the canal's flow. Construction on the central route began in 2004. In 2008, the 307 km-long northern stretch of the central route was completed at a cost of $ 2 billion. Water in that stretch of the canal does not come from the Han River but from reservoirs in Hebei Province, south of Beijing. Farmers and industries in Hebei had to cut back on water consumption to allow for water to be transferred to Beijing. On mapping services, one can see

4680-594: The new ones also foreclose "upon a wide variety of social practices, reproducing rather than resolving urban inequality and disenfranchisement". Because of their plethora of land uses "these mega-projects inhibit the growth of oppositional and contestational practices". The collective benefits that are often the underlying logic of a mega-project, are here reduced to an individualized form of public benefit. Proponents of infrastructure-based development advocate for funding large-scale projects to create long-term economic benefits. Investing in megaprojects in order to stimulate

4758-617: The north will increase from 8.9 km/year to 10.6 km/year to 14.8 km/year. Water from the Yangtze River will be drawn into the canal in Jiangdu , where a giant 400 m/s (12.6 km/year if operated continuously) pumping station was built in the 1980s. The water will then be pumped by stations along the Grand Canal and through a tunnel under the Yellow River and down an aqueduct to reservoirs near Tianjin. Construction on

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4836-517: The numerical amount, is used for the U.S. dollar (as well as for many other currencies). The sign was perhaps the result of a late 18th-century evolution of the scribal abbreviation p for the peso , the common name for the Spanish dollars that were in wide circulation in the New World from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The p and the s eventually came to be written over each other giving rise to $ . Another popular explanation

4914-561: The other. This theory, popularized by novelist Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged , does not consider the fact that the symbol was already in use before the formation of the United States. The U.S. dollar was introduced at par with the Spanish-American silver dollar (or Spanish peso , Spanish milled dollar , eight-real coin , piece-of-eight ). The latter was produced from the rich silver mine output of Spanish America ,

4992-406: The project's eastern route, in Shandong, claimed that the polluted Yangtze River water entering the lake was killing their fish. Subsequent scientific research showed that the water diversion improved the water environment of Dongping Lake. Scientists have been concerned that the project will increase water evaporation loss. The exact amount of evaporation loss is not known, but it may be improved in

5070-465: The public offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. Unlike the Spanish milled dollar, the Continental Congress and the Coinage Act prescribed a decimal system of units to go with the unit dollar, as follows: the mill , or one-thousandth of a dollar; the cent , or one-hundredth of a dollar; the dime , or one-tenth of

5148-606: The reservoir's watershed to keep its water drinkable . There are long-standing plans to divert about 200 cubic kilometers of water per year from the upstream sections of six rivers in southwestern China, including the Mekong (Lancang River), the Yarlung Zangbo (called Brahmaputra further downstream), and the Salween (Nu River), to the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and ultimately to the dry areas of northern China through

5226-487: The rise in the price of silver during the California Gold Rush and the disappearance of circulating silver coins, the Coinage Act of 1853 reduced the standard for silver coins less than $ 1 from 412.5 grains to 384 grains (24.9 g), 90% silver per 100 cents (slightly revised to 25.0 g, 90% silver in 1873). The Act also limited the free silver right of individuals to convert bullion into only one coin,

5304-514: The same is now current, and to contain three hundred and seventy-one grains and four sixteenth parts of a grain of pure, or four hundred and sixteen grains of standard silver. Section 20 of the Act designates the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States: [T]he money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units...and that all accounts in

5382-552: The silver dollar at the rate of 1 silver dollar to 1000 continental dollars. This resulted in the clause "No state shall... make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts" being written into the United States Constitution article 1, section 10 . From implementation of the 1792 Mint Act to the 1900 implementation of the gold standard , the dollar was on a bimetallic silver-and-gold standard, defined as either 371.25 grains (24.056 g) of fine silver or 24.75 grains of fine gold (gold-silver ratio 15). Subsequent to

5460-477: The silver dollar of 412.5 grains; smaller coins of lower standard can only be produced by the United States Mint using its own bullion. Summary and links to coins issued in the 19th century: In order to finance the War of 1812 , Congress authorized the issuance of Treasury Notes , interest-bearing short-term debt that could be used to pay public dues. While they were intended to serve as debt, they did function "to

5538-414: The value of an eagle at 10 dollars, and the dollar at 1 ⁄ 10 eagle. It called for silver coins in denominations of 1, 1 ⁄ 2 , 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 10 , and 1 ⁄ 20 dollar, as well as gold coins in denominations of 1, 1 ⁄ 2 and 1 ⁄ 4 eagle. The value of gold or silver contained in the dollar was then converted into relative value in the economy for

5616-423: The war, giving rise to the famous phrase "not worth a continental". A primary problem was that monetary policy was not coordinated between Congress and the states, which continued to issue bills of credit. Additionally, neither Congress nor the governments of the several states had the will or the means to retire the bills from circulation through taxation or the sale of bonds. The currency was ultimately replaced by

5694-488: The world's foremost reserve currency for international trade to this day. The Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 also defined the post-World War II monetary order and relations among modern-day independent states , by setting up a system of rules, institutions, and procedures to regulate the international monetary system . The agreement founded the International Monetary Fund and other institutions of

5772-408: Was expected to be completed around 2010. Final completion was on 12 December 2014, to allow for more environmental protection along the route. One problem was the impact of the project on the Han River below the Danjiangkou Dam, from which approximately one-third of the route's total water is diverted. One long-term solution being considered is to build another canal to divert water from the reservoir at

5850-412: Was firmly upheld, which the U.S. later had to compete with using a heavier 378.0 grains (24.49 g) Trade dollar coin . The early currency of the United States did not exhibit faces of presidents, as is the custom now; although today, by law, only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency. In fact, the newly formed government was against having portraits of leaders on

5928-465: Was later shortened to the German taler , a word that eventually found its way into many languages, including: tolar ( Czech , Slovak and Slovenian ); daler ( Danish and Swedish ); talar ( Polish ); dalar and daler ( Norwegian ); daler or daalder ( Dutch ); talari ( Ethiopian ); tallér ( Hungarian ); tallero ( Italian ); دولار ( Arabic ); and dollar ( English ). Though

6006-748: Was minted in Mexico City , Potosí (Bolivia), Lima (Peru), and elsewhere, and was in wide circulation throughout the Americas, Asia, and Europe from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The minting of machine-milled Spanish dollars since 1732 boosted its worldwide reputation as a trade coin and positioned it to be the model for the new currency of the United States . Even after the United States Mint commenced issuing coins in 1792, locally minted dollars and cents were less abundant in circulation than Spanish American pesos and reales ; hence Spanish, Mexican, and American dollars all remained legal tender in

6084-662: Was the original French word for the U.S. dollar, used for example in the French text of the Louisiana Purchase . Though the U.S. dollar is called dollar in Modern French, the term piastre is still used among the speakers of Cajun French and New England French , as well as speakers in Haiti and other French-speaking Caribbean islands. Nicknames specific to denomination: The symbol $ , usually written before

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