Pre-War money

United States dollars, commonly called Pre-War money, were the official currency of the United States of America. They appear as stacks of banknotes of various denominations in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, Fallout 76 and Fallout Shelter.

Background
United States dollars (USD) were the pre-War currency of the United States of America. Throughout the 21st century, the dollar faced steady decline. At the height of the Resource Wars, $20 notes were used as the primary denomination of exchange. After the United States and its economy were destroyed by atomic fire, stacks of green bills were reduced to little more than scrap parchment. Automated pre-War vendors, such as those seen in the Sierra Madre casino or the Nuka-World amusement park, continue to recognize and accept the dollar. Pre war money appears as an undisclosed amount of stacked bills, and is used to represent large sums of cash.

Pricing
Throughout the Fallout series, various inflation and prices have been assigned to many products, including foodstuffs, vehicles, literature, and entertainment. This list will compound and display the various prices assigned throughout the series:

Cents
Sub-$1 coins of various denominations, such as pennies, dimes, and quarters, are referenced various times throughout the games via dialogue and world object text, but do not appear in any of the games for gameplay reasons.

Dollar
$20 bills appear most prominently in the games, as being stacked in bundles worth $100. $100 bills also existed.

Banknotes (green strap)


A stack of pre-War bills, bound with a green band.

Bank notes (red strap)


A stack of pre-War bills, tied together by a red currency strap.

Behind the scenes

 * Pre-War money has a variable value in Fallout: New Vegas, modified by the player character's Barter skill.
 * High-resolution textures for Fallout 4 identify the banknotes as $20 bills. The strap is placed over the portrait, but the design of the bill is a combination of the 1928 $20 small-size Federal Reserve Note (general design) and 1914 $20 Federal Reserve Note (red seal).

Supplementary references

 * Fallout manual