Fractional currency in the context of Francis E. Spinner

The United States one-dollar bill (US$1), sometimes referred to as a single, has been the lowest value denomination of United States paper currency since the discontinuation of U.S. fractional currency notes in 1876. An image of the first U.S. president (1789–1797), George Washington, based on the Athenaeum Portrait, a 1796 painting by Gilbert Stuart, is currently featured on the obverse, and the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse. The one-dollar bill has the oldest overall design of all U.S. currency currently in use. The reverse design of the present dollar debuted in 1935, and the obverse in 1963 when it was first issued as a Federal Reserve Note (previously, one-dollar bills were Silver Certificates). The current US two-dollar bill has the oldest obverse design, dating from 1928.

A dollar bill is composed of 25% linen and 75% cotton. That blend makes the notes more difficult to counterfeit compared to paper (as well as increasing its durability). As of December 31, 2018, the average life of a dollar bill in circulation is 6.6 years before it is replaced due to wear. Approximately 42% of all U.S. currency produced in 2009 were one-dollar bills. As of December 31, 2019, there were 12.7 billion one-dollar bills in circulation worldwide. An engraver at the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, George Frederick Cumming Smillie, made an etching of a painting of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart which was used on multiple banknotes. A vignette of the portrait appears on the one dollar bill of 1899, and on notes since 1918.