Slang terms for money
Slang terms for money often derive from the appearance and features of banknotes or coins, their values, historical associations or the units of currency concerned. Within a language community, some of the slang terms vary in social, ethnic, economic, and geographic strata but others have become the dominant way of referring to the currency and are regarded as mainstream, acceptable language (for example, "buck" for a dollar or similar currency in various nations including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria and the United States). Australia. Current denominations. The five-cent coin is sometimes referred to  as "shrapnel" as the smallest remaining coin in value and physical size. This nickname was inherited from one- and two-cent coins when they were abolished in 1996. Similarly related, as is also used in the United Kingdom, "fivers" and "tenners" are relatively common expressions for five and ten pounds, respectively. "Beer tokens" can relate to any denomination or combination of. This is also in keeping with the reverse, in which "bottle tops" can be used as an expression of holding, offering, or having a low amount of money. A twenty-dollar note is called a "lobster" or redback because  of its red colour. A fifty-dollar note is also known colloquially as a "pineapple" or the "Big Pineapple" because of its yellow colour. The $100 note is currently green and is known colloquially as an "avocado" or "green tree frog", but between 1984 and 1996 it was grey, and was called a grey nurse (a type of shark). In a "Simpsons" episode set in Australia, one character used the term "dollarydoos" which was later the subject of a failed petition to formally change the name of the Australian dollar. Former denominations. Pre-decimal currency in Australia had a  variety of slang terms for its various denominations. The Australian threepence was referred to as a "trey" or a "trey bit", a name probably derived from old French meaning three. The sixpence was often referred to as a "zack", which was an Australian and New Zealander term referring to a coin of small denomination, probably derived from Zecchino. The term was also used to refer to short prison term such as six months. An Australian shilling, like its British counterpart, was commonly referred to as a "bob", and the florin was consequently known as "two bob". Similarly, one Australian pound  was colloquially described as a "quid", "fiddly", or "saucepan", the latter as rhyming slang for "saucepan lid/quid". The five-pound note could be referred to as a "fiver", or its derivatives, "deep sea diver" and "sky diver". A number of post-decimal denominations which have since been discontinued had their own nicknames. The two-dollar note was known as the "sick sheep" in reference to its green colour and the merino ram that it showed. The paper (first and second series) hundred-dollar note was nicknamed the "grey ghost", "grey nurse", or the "Bradman" in recognition of its proximity  to the 99.94 batting average of cricketer Donald Bradman. Canada. In Canada, the one-dollar coin is known as the "loonie". This is because it bears an image of the common loon, a bird. The two-dollar coin is known as the "toonie", a portmanteau combining the number "two" with "loonie". It is occasionally spelled "twonie"; Canadian newspapers and the Royal Canadian Mint use the "toonie" spelling. Similar to the United States 5 cent coins are called nickle (due to the metal it was made of, but note the different spelling), 10 cent coins are dimes, 25 cent coins are  quarters or two bits. Dollar amounts are all also referred to as bucks. A five-dollar note is known colloquially as a "fin", a "fiver", "half a sawbuck". A ten-dollar note is known colloquially as "a ten-spot", a "dixie", a "sawbuck", or a "tenner". A twenty-dollar note is known colloquially as "QE2", or a "Queen Sheet" (after its portrait of Queen Elizabeth II). A one hundred-dollar note is known colloquially as a "C-Note", a "Borden" (after its portrait of Prime Minister Robert Borden), or a "bill" (e.g. $500 is "5 bills"). $100.00 is  also called an "onion" in gambling corners. Discontinued since 2000, the former one thousand-dollar notes were occasionally referred to as "pinkies", because of their distinctive colour. Since Canadians and Americans both refer to their respective currencies as "the dollar", and because the two countries tend to mingle both socially and in the media, there is a lot of overlap in slang terms for money. However, this usually only extends to terms that are not specific to one country or the other. For example, both Canadians and Americans refer to a $100 note as a "C-note", but an  American might refer to it as a "Benjamin", after its portrait of Benjamin Franklin, while a Canadian might refer to it as a "Borden", after its portrait of Robert Borden. In Canadian French, dollar amounts are often referred to as "piasses" in the same way that an English speaker would use the words "buck" or "bucks" in informal settings. The word "piasse" is derived from the word piastre. Czech republic. Coins and banknotes are referred to as: 5 CZK coin is called "bur" 10 CZK coin is called "pětka" 100 CZK note is called "kilo" (reference to kilogram – weight unit ) 500 CZK note is "pětibába" (reference to baba = woman on its face and pet = five) 1000 CZK note is "litr" (reference to litre – volume unit) milion CZK is "mega" (obvious 10^6 SI unit prefix) If someone has a large amount of money, but the exact amount is not known, people say "je ve vatě" ("he is in cotton wool") or "je v balíku" ("he's in a package"). Eurozone. Since its introduction in 1999, a number of slang terms for the euro have emerged, though differences between languages mean that they are not common across the  whole of the eurozone. Some terms are inherited from the legacy currencies, such as "quid" from the Irish pound and various translations of "fiver" or "tenner" being used for notes. The German "Teuro" is a play on the word "teuer", meaning 'expensive'. The Deutsche Mark by comparison was approximately worth half as much as the euro (at a ratio of 1.95583:1) and some grocers and restaurants have been accused of taking advantage of the smaller numbers to increase their actual prices with the changeover by rounding to 2:1, in Portugal the same has happened and usually use the term "Aéreo  with the meaning of Aéreal", the currency that flies away. In Flanders the lower value copper coins are known as "koper" (copper) or "rosse" (~ginger, referring to the colour). "Ege" in Finland and "Pavo" (which is the usual Spanish translation of "buck" on movies or TV shows when it refers to dollars) in Spain are also terms applied to the euro. India. In India slang names for coins are more common than the currency notes. For 5 paisa (100 paisa is equal to 1 Indian rupee) it is "panji". A 10 paisa coin is called "dassi" and for 20 paisa  it is "bissi". A 25 paisa coin is called "chavanni" (equal to 4 annas) and 50 paisa is "athanni" (8 annas). However, in recent years, due to inflation, the use of these small value coins has declined, and so has the use of these slang terms. The more prevalent terms now (particularly in Mumbai and in Bollywood movies) are "peti" for a Lakh (Rs. 100,000) and "khokha" for a Crore (Rs. 10,000,000) and "tijori" for 100 crores (Rs. 1,000,000,000). "Peti" also means "suitcase", which is the volume needed to carry a Lakh of currency notes. Tijori means a large safe  or a cupboard, which would be the approximate space required to store that money in cash form. Because of the real estate boom in recent times, businessmen also use the terms '2CR' or '3CR' referring to two crores and three crores respectively. Argentina. In Argentina, among the years and despite many devaluation milestones, the lunfardo managed to persist in time some special nicknames to certain amount of money, not because color or type of the bill but to different meanings and uses. Senior people above 65 now (previous to baby-boomer generation) used to call "guita" to the coins of  low denomination of cents ('centavos'), like 2, 5 or 10 cent coins. So "10 guita" meant 10 cents of peso. Today the cents are still legal but non-existent. The word "guita" in lunfardo is synonym for "money". During the short period of the "Austral" which replaced the traditional "Peso" monetary bill, after the period called 'dirty war' (between 1983 and 1990) and in the recent years after year 2.000, people used to call "palo" (stick) to the "million" of australes or pesos, so "2 palos" refers to 2 million pesos. For the last 20 years or more, after year  1997 at least, and during the government of president Menem, as probably the hiatus of the pre-devaluation era before year 2000, and even today people got used to call "luca" to thousands of pesos, so "5 lucas" it means 5 thousand pesos. Lucas, is a typical masculine name among the X Generation in Argentina. Then another nickname for the singular peso is "mango", but nobody would call 35.000 "mangos" when they can say 35 "lucas". Also nobody would say 1.000 "lucas" when they can simply say 1 "palo" (1 million pesos) Mexico. The mexican coin is called "peso" 0.5  MXN coin is called "toston" 10 MXN coin is called "Diego" 20 MXN bill is called "Benito or Beny" 200 MXN bill is called "Juana" 1000 MXN bill is called "Miguelito" In general, money is referred to as "lana" (wool). Kenya. In Kenya there are about 42 different languages, which have different dialects and indigenous names for money, in addition to the official National languages of Swahili and English. In English, Kenyan currency is a Shilling while in Swahili it is "Shilingi". (Indeed, all East African countries refer to their money as Shillings.) Other notable names include: In addition, youth  have a sub-culture street language for the different denominations. Using the street slang ("sheng"), urbanites often amalgamate Swahili, English, and their mother-tongue to concoct meanings and names for the different denominations. Among the commonly used terms are: In writing, money is denoted by "Kshs" before or the slang notation "/=" after. For examples, Kshs.1.00 is one-bob, whereas 5,000/= is five-Kei. Corruption is rampant in the Kenyan government, and corrupt officials in government agencies often refer to illicit kickbacks as "chickens" to avoid anti-corruption and money laundering enforcement. Malaysia. In Malaysia there is a difference between  states in their names for money. Normally "cents" are called "sen", but in the northern region (Penang, Kedah, Perlis) "sen" are called "kupang" and the "det" (pronounce date) means money. For example, "weh aku takdak det" and 50 sen/cents is called 5 kupang and not 50 kupang. In the East Coast Region (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang), they still used sen. But only for the value of 50 cents, they replace it with the word se-amah ( where "se" refer to one in Malay), if it's RM 1 (100 cents), it will be called dua-amah ( "Dua" is two in  Malay), and so on. And, exclusively in Kelantan, they don't refer the value of money in "ringgit", for example, in other states, RM 10 is called 10 ringgit, RM 25 is called 25 ringgit and so on. But, in Kelantan, they replaced the word "ringgit" with "riyal", for example, RM 10 is usually called 10 ringgit, but in Kelantan, it's called 10 riyal. in olden days, RM10 in red colour is referred to as "Red Tiger" because there was a watermark of tiger in red tone appearing on the RM 10 notes https://steemit.com/steemsilvergold/@hooiyewlim/malaysia-1967-1st-series-rm10-banknote Russia. General money slang Generally  slang terms for money are following: "b′abki" — from Czech small anvil for making coins — "b′abka", "pl." "b′abki" "babl′o" — slang from "b′abki" "lav′ae" — used since 1990s, comes from gypsy word "lavae" means silver. Russian writer Victor Pelevin gives an alternative witty consumeristic meaning to this word. In his book "Generation P" he interprets "lav′ae" as a spelled out abbreviation "LV" which stands for liberal values. "kap′u:sta" — means cabbage "derevy′anniy" — a general name for a rouble, a substantive adj. "wooden". Means that rouble is cheap as it is made of wood. Expressions "strich bablo" — verb "strich" means "to cut", "to trim  money like from the hedge (also strich kapu:stu", "strich lavae") "kos′it' babl′o" — "to mow money" (also "kos′it' kap′u:stu", "kos′it' lav′ae"), similar to "trim money" Both expressions mean to earn money in big amounts (usually refers to illegal ways) or to collect money from someone. Coins The Russian language has slang terms for various amounts of money. Slang names of copeck coins derive from old Russian pre-decimal coins and are rarely in use nowadays: an "altyn" is three copecks, a "grivennik" is ten copecks, a "pyatialtynny" ("five-altyns") is fifteen copecks, and a "dvugrivenny" ("two-grivenniks") is 20  copecks. Most of these coins are of Soviet mint and no longer used; only the ten copeck coin remains in circulation. 1 copeck — "kop′eyechka" (diminutive from copeck) 3 copecks — "alt′yn" 10 copecks — "gr′ivennik" 15 copecks — "pyatialt′ynny" ("five-altyns") 20 copecks — "dvugr′ivenny" ("two-grivenniks") Bills The word "cherv′onets" means ten rubles and refers to an early 20th-century gold coin of the same name. It is also called "ch′irik" (a diminutive for "cherv′onets"). The words for bank notes from 50 to 1000 rubles are the newest and most modern, since currently (2000s-2010s) bank notes of this value are most common in  circulation. 50 rubles are called "polt′innik" (an old word that originally meant 50 copecks), 100 rubles are called "st′ol'nik" (a neologism from the Russian word "sto", meaning "100", not related to the Muscovite office of the same name), 500 rubles are called "pyatih′atka" (lit. "five huts"), "fiol′et" ("violet", because of the note's color), and 1000 rubles are called "sht′u:ka" (means "item", "pack" — 1990-s slang for a pack of bills 100x10RUB or 100x10USD), "kus′ok" ("piece", "pack" — also refers to a 100x10RUB pack); or "kos′ar'" — (form "k′oso" — "adv." "aslope") initially refers to a fact that in the 1910-20s  the number "1000" was printed on the note at 45°. The word "kos′ar'" (homonymic meaning is "mower") can also be referred to another money slang expression "kos′it' babl′o" — "to mow money" — to earn money in big amounts (usually refers to illegal ways). 10 RUB — "cherv′onets" (from "Slav." "cherv′oniy" — red, refer to a colour the note was in Soviet times), "ch′irik" (a diminutive for chervonets) 50 RUB — "polt′innik" (substantive from "five-altyns") 100 RUB — "stol'nik", "s′o:tka", "sot′el" (informal substantives from "sto" — one hundred) 500 RUB — "pyatis′otka"(substantive from "pyat's′ot" — five hundred), "pyatih′utka" (lit. "five huts")", "fiol′et" ("violet" refers to a  note colour) 1000 RUB — "sht′u:ka", "shtu:k′ar'" ("item", "pack" — 1990-s slang for a pack of bills 100x10RUB or 100x10USD)", "kus′ok" ("piece", "pack" — also refers to a 100x10RUB pack); "kos′ar'" ("slopped"), "rubl'" 5000 RUB – "pit′orka", "pit′ora" ("a fiver"), "pyat' shtuk" (five packs, five packs of 100x10RUB), "pyat' kosar′ey", "pyat' kusk′o:v", "pyat' rubl'ey" Slang words for greater amounts of money originate from the 1990s and the Russian Civil War eras, when the ruble was suffering hyperinflation. For a million rubles the most common are "limon" (lemon), "lyam" (short from "limon") and for a billion "arbuz" (watermelon). Word "limon" appeared  in 1990s when rouble lost its value. 1 000 000 RUB — "lim′o:n" (lemon), "lyam" (short from "limon") 1 000 000 000 RUB — "yard" (milliard), "arb′u:z" (watermelon) Slovakia. From 1993 to 2008, Slovakia used its own currency, slovenská koruna (Slovak crown), instead of Euro. During this period, slang words for greater amounts of money were established, including "kilo" (slang for kilogram) for one hundred crowns, "liter" (liter) for one thousand crowns and "melón" (melon) for one million crowns. These slang words are still used after 2008, albeit less frequently. South Africa. Decimal currency was introduced in 1961, when the  South African pound, previously based on the United Kingdom currency, was replaced by the rand (symbol R) at the rate of 2 rand to 1 pound, or 10 shillings to the rand. Thus the United Kingdom term "bob" for a shilling equates to 10 cents. South African slang for various amounts of money borrows many terms from the rest of the English speaking world, such as the word "grand" when referring to R1,000. Other words are unique to South Africa, such as the term "choc" when referring to a R20 note. One "bar" refers to an amount of R1,000,000. Among  the English speaking communities "Bucks" is commonly used to refer to Rands (South African Currency). Less commonly used is the Afrikaans slang for Rands which is "Bokke", the plural of Bok; The Afrikaans word for antelope ("Bucks" being the English equivalent), derived from the Springbok image on the old R 1 coin. e.g. R 100 = 100 Bucks/Bokke, R 5 = 5 Bucks/Bokke etc. Netherlands. Netherlands-slang(straattaal) 5 cent : centoe, kleingeld, stuiver (in Amsterdam "bijssie") 10 cents: dubbeltje (double stuiver) "duppie" 25 cents: kwartje (a quarter of a Guilder) (in Amsterdam "heitje") 1 euro : uru, djara, ballen (pleural ), e, ekkie, eu, eccie, pop (Previously when it was 1 Guilder – "piek") 2.5 Guilders" rijksdaalder (in Amsterdam "knaak") 5 euro: lotto, vijfje ("fiver") 10 euro: donnie, tientje ("tenner"), joet (after yodh, the tenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet) – (in Amsterdam "joet") 25 euro: twaja donnie, geeltje ("yellow one", the former guilder banknote used to be yellow from 1861 until 1909) There is no 25 Euro bill; only a 20 Euro) 50 euro: bankoe 100 euro: barkie, meier (after mea, Hebrew for 100), mud (unit of volume, derived from Latin modius; used to be 100 litres after 1820), snip (the old  guilder banknote once had a snipe on it) - 1000 euro: doezoe, mille (from French word for thousand), rooie/rooie rug/rug ("red one, red back, back", the former guilder banknote once had a red backside), kop ("head") 100.000 euro: ton 1.000.000 euro: milli 1.000.000.000 euro: billi 1.000.000.000.000 euro: trill, trilly 1.000.000.000.000.000 euro: gerro/gerry New Zealand. In New Zealand one dollar and two dollar coins are often referred to as "gold coins". This presumably comes from the term "gold coin donation", which is widely used in New Zealand in schools on days such as mufti day and in a Koha . One hundred dollar notes are often referred to as "Ern Ruddys" a nod to Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealand-born British physicist that features on the one hundred dollar note, also known as the father of nuclear physics. Sweden. In Sweden money in general is colloquially referred to by the words "stålar", "deg" ("dough") or "klöver" ("clover") and the English loanword "cash". Slang terms for the Swedish krona in use today include "spänn" and "bagis". "Riksdaler" (referring riksdaler, the former Swedish currency) is still used as a colloquial term for the krona in Sweden. A 20-kronor banknote is sometimes  called "selma", referring to the portrait of Selma Lagerlöf on the older version of the note. 100-kronor banknote is called hunka and is a wordplay of the word "hundring" meaning hundred, 50 is therefore halvhunka and 200 is dubbelhunka. 200 is to a lesser extent also called "gröning" (green-ing) due to the green color of the banknote, however this can be confusing as "gröning" is also a slang for a gram marijuana. 500 is referred as röding ("salvelinus"), "röd" meaning red refers to the color of the banknote. 1000 is called lax ("Salmon") because the older 1000 banknotes  were pink/orange like the meat of salmon, lesser used terms are: lök (onion) and lakan (sheets). 10.000 is called skjorta (shirt) however it is only used in the rich parts of Stockholm. 1.000.000 is called kanin (rabbit) and derive from the egyptian arabic term were they also call 1 million for rabbit and in more casual speech "mille" which is a shortened version of "miljon". In the southern part of Sweden, the parts that originally belonged to Denmark ( counties are Halland, Blekinge, Skåne) until the mid 1600, you can also use the word "spänn" for money. If you remove  the umlauts in the word it will mean bucket in the county Skåne in Sweden. In the rest of Sweden the bucket word is "hink". The word "spann" comes from the time when Skåne belonged to Denmark (there are a few more words that differs from the south to the north, but we are now discussing slang for money.) The expression above would then be ...det kostar 10 spänn... it costs 10 kronor. (The umlauts here are pronounced a short e – [spenn]) United Kingdom. Ready money (i.e. cash) has been referred to in the United Kingdom as "dosh" since at  least 1953; Brewer equates this term with "paying through the nose", "dosh" being a Russian-Jewish prefix referring to the nose, that is, paying in cash. The phrase "ready money" has also given rise to the far more popular "readies", though there is debate as to whether this is an obvious reference to the availability of the currency or the red and white colour of the British ten shilling Treasury note of 1914. The related term "cash on the nail" is said to refer to 17th century trading stands in Bristol and elsewhere, over which deals were done and cash  changed hands. Other general terms for money include "bread" (Cockney rhyming slang 'bread & honey', money; this also became dough, by derivation from the same root), "cabbage", "clam", "milk", "dosh", "dough", "shillings", "frogskins", "notes", "ducats", "loot", "bones", "bar", "coin", "folding stuff", "honk", "lampshade", "lolly", "lucre"/"filthy lucre", "moola/moolah", "mazuma", "paper", "scratch", "readies", "rhino" (Thieves' cant), "spondulicks/spondoolic(k)s/spondulix/spondoolies" and "wonga". "Quid" (singular and plural) is used for pound sterling or £, in British slang. It is thought to derive from the Latin phrase "quid pro quo". A pound (£1) may also be referred to as a "nicker" or  nugget (rarer). Some other pre-decimal United Kingdom coins or denominations became commonly known by colloquial and slang terms, perhaps the most well known being "bob" for a shilling. A farthing was a "mag", a silver threepence was a "joey" and the later nickel-brass threepence was called a "threepenny bit" (, or ); a sixpence was a "tanner", the two-shilling coin or florin was a "two-bob bit", the two shillings and sixpence coin or half-crown was a "half dollar" and the crown was a "dollar". Slang terms are not generally used for the decimal coins that replaced them  but in some parts of the country, "bob" continues to represent one-twentieth of a pound, that is five new pence and two bob is 10p. For all denominations "p" is used for pence. In the United Kingdom the term "shrapnel" may be used for an inconvenient pocketful of change because of the association with a shrapnel shell and "wad", "wedge" or "wodge" for a bundle of banknotes, with "tightwad" a derogatory term for someone who is reluctant to spend money. Similar to "shrapnel" the use of "washers" in Scotland denotes a quantity of low value coinage. Quantities of UK  1p and 2p coins may be referred to as "Copper", 5p, 10p, 20p, and 50p coins as "Silver" and £1 and £2 coins as "Bronze" due to their colour and apparent base metal type. "Brass" is northern English slang for any amount of money. The one pound note, while still in circulation in Scotland, was occasionally referred to as a "Sheet" and thus the ten shilling note as a "Half Sheet". More commonly the ten shilling note was a "ten bob note" or, in London, "half a bar". "As bent as a nine bob note" is or was  common colloquial phrase used to describe something or someone crooked or counterfeit, or alternatively (and now considered offensive) a gay man who is extremely camp In pub culture five and ten pound notes are sometimes called "blue beer tokens" and "brown beer tokens" respectively. Fairly recent additions are a "Winston" for £5 (from the image of Winston Churchill on the back of the new note introduced in 2016) and "bullseye" for £50 (from the points value of the bullseye on a darts board) . £5 is called a "fiver", or a "bluey". A "tenner" is £10. A  Darwin also refers to a £10 note, due to the image of Charles Darwin on the back (issued from 7 November 2000 and withdrawn from circulation on 1 March 2018). £20 is sometimes referred to as a "score", although strictly this is not a slang term for money, as 'score' is a normal word for twenty. A "pony" equals £25. A "bullseye" is £50. £100 is sometimes referred to as a "ton" e.g. £400 would be called 4 ton. Also, a "century" or a "bill" are also used as £100 (e.g. £300  would be three bills). A "monkey" is £500. £1,000 is commonly referred to as a grand, e.g., £4,000 would be called 4 grand, or rarely in certain dialects as a "bag" (from the rhyming slang "Bag of Sand"), e.g., £4,000 would be called 4 bags. A "oner" (one-er) has referred to various amounts from one shilling to a pound, to now meaning £100 or £1,000, and a "big one" denoting £1,000. A "oncer" referred particularly to a one-pound note, now defunct. Other rhyming slang expressions for particular quantities of money in  the United Kingdom include: "Lady Godiva" for a fiver (£5), or a "Jacks" – Jackson Five (extremely rare) and "diver" for pearl diver. A "Cockle" is £10 – Cock and Hen — ten (also "Ayrton", from Ayrton Senna/Tenner ). A "Bobby" is £20 – Bobby Moore (score). In London financial culture, a billion pounds or, more often, US dollars, is referred to as a 'yard'. This derives from the old British English word for a thousand million, a milliard, which has now been replaced by the 'short scale' name 'billion' from US English. The term 'million' for a million pounds or  dollars is often dropped when it is clear from context. E.g. "He made three quid last year" would mean "He earned three million pounds". United States. General terms include: Outdated or rarely used terms include: U.S. coinage nicknames reflect their value, composition and tradition. Dimes and quarters used to be sometimes collectively referred to as "silver" due to their historic composition of 90% silver prior to 1965. A bit is an antiquated term equal to one eighth of a dollar or  cents, after the Spanish 8-Real "piece of eight" coin on which the U.S. dollar was initially based. So  two bits is twenty-five cents; similarly, "four bits" is fifty cents. More rare are "six bits" (75 cents) and "eight bits" meaning a dollar. These are commonly referred to as two-bit, four-bit, six-bit and eight-bit. U.S. banknote nicknames reflect their values (such as five, twenty, etc.), the subjects depicted on them and their color. Banknotes may be collectively referred to as "dead Presidents", although neither Alexander Hamilton ($10) nor Benjamin Franklin ($100) was President. These are also referred to as "wallet-sized portraits of Presidents" – referring to the fact that people typically carry  pictures in their wallets. "Greenback" originally applied specifically to the 19th century Demand Note dollars created by Abraham Lincoln to finance the costs of the American Civil War for the North. The original note was printed in black and green on the back side. It is still used to refer to the U.S. dollar (but not to the dollars of other countries). Other more general terms for money, not specifically linked to actual banknotes: