For the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire most of Europe has a single, common currency. Twelve European currencies - among them the mighty German mark, the ancient Greek drachma - began to vanish on New Year's Day. The US dollar now faces the first challenge to its supremacy since it displaced the British pound sterling as the world's most influential currency at the end of World War I.
Whether or not the euro will supercede the dollar’s dominance is a question many analysts now face. This will be no easy feat; Arab oil is bought and sold in dollars per barrel; Central American drug lords deal in greenbacks, and Asian factories pay their workers and venders with dollars and cents.
