How bucks became another word for dollars 

“Mom, I need 2,000 bucks to buy this game.” How many times have you used the term bucks for rupees? This term has become part of our normal vocabulary. In fact, it is used interchangeably with dollar. But why is that? Let’s find out. 

What does a buck mean? 
Buck is an informal reference to the US dollar. However, the proper meaning of the word is a male deer. Actually, deer used to be called “bucks” long before American dollars even existed.  

How "buck" became a word for money 
In the early days of North American colonisation, say the 1700s, settlers were trading goods with the native Americans and animal pelts  (skin) were a form of currency. Yes, they were used to pay for goods in much the same way dollars are used today to pay off bills. A deer pelt or buck pelt was one of the most valuable animal pelts of these. In fact, the first known written use of the word ‘buck’ is found in a document from the year 1748 which says that a barrel of whiskey held the same value as “five bucks”.  

So was one buck equal to one deer pelt? 
Interestingly, no. One ’buck’ didn’t necessarily mean one deer pelt. It depended on the quality of the pelt which would determine its value. It had to be a really good quality deer pelt to make it equal to a buck. Deer pelts are thickest in the winter and accordingly, the pelts of deer killed during summer were less valuable. So, several of those kinds would equal one buck. Pelts from different smaller animals such as beavers or rabbits could also be combined to equal the value of one ‘buck’. For example, there is one documented trade where six high-quality beaver skins or twelve high-quality rabbit pelts each equalled one buck. 

Dollar came in but buck stayed on  
The use of pelts or animal skins as a medium of exchange gradually died off over the next century as more and more Europeans moved in and built towns and cities. In 1792, dollar replaced animal skins as the official way of paying bills and it quickly became the prominent medium of exchange. However, the term buck stayed on a slang implying the dollar. 

Word of caution: You can use phrases like make a quick buck, big buck, fast buck in reference to money. However, pass the buck and buck the trend don’t use the same reference. They have different stories behind them.