reserve currency

American  

noun

1. any currency, as the U.S. dollar, used as a medium to settle international debts.

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reserve currency British  

noun

1. foreign currency that is acceptable as a medium of international payments and that is therefore held in reserve by many countries

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Etymology

Origin of reserve currency

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Having the world’s reserve currency, however, isn’t the unbreakable shield many assume.

From The Wall Street Journal

Once that belief dies, so does reserve currency status.

From MarketWatch

Every reserve currency failed the same way.

From MarketWatch

The Americas became “the center of a new global economy,” Mr. Gillingham writes, the peso “the world’s first reserve currency.”

From The Wall Street Journal

While some have expressed dissatisfaction with the dollar’s role as the global reserve currency, the fact remains that there is no obvious alternative to replace it, said Standard Chartered’s Steve Englander.

From MarketWatch