dollar of the daddies

US/ˈdɑlɚ ə(v)ðə ˌdædiz/UK/ˈdɒlə‿ɹə(v)ðə ˌdadiz/

noun

The pre-1873 American silver dollar.

Meanings

noundollar of the daddies (plural dollars of the daddies)

plural dollars of the daddies · alternative dollar of our daddies

  1. colloquialobsoleteThe pre-1873 American silver dollar.

    And now irreverent jokers complain that the "Dollar of the Daddies" is below pa.

    1877, “Currency”, in American Journal of Numismatics, volume XIII, Boston Numismatic Society, page 108
    2 more examples

    You say that you “want to restore silver"; now let us have the old conditions. “We want the 'dollar of the daddies',” is your cry.

    1896, “Appendix”, in Congressional Record: containing the procedures and debates of the Fifty-Fourth Congress, First Session, volume XXVIII, Government Printing Office, page 127

    Many persons believe that the so-called "dollar of the daddies," weighing 412½ grains (nine tenths fine), having a ratio to gold of "16 to 1" in value when first coined, was the original dollar of the Constitution.

    1898 September 28, Alexander E. Outerbridge Jr., “Curiosities of American Coinage”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 53, D. Appleton & Company, page 601

Origin

A parodic alteration of dollar of the fathers (referring to the Founding Fathers or one's ancestors).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

dollar of the daddies. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dollar%20of%20the%20daddies

MLA

“dollar of the daddies.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dollar%20of%20the%20daddies. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dollar of the daddies,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dollar%20of%20the%20daddies.

Source: dollar of the daddies on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.