Early American currency

Uncommon card · No. 191808

Early American currency went through several stages of development during the colonial and post-Revolutionary history of the United States. John Hull was authorized by the Massachusetts legislature to make the earliest coinage of the colony (the willow, the oak, and the pine tree shilling) in 1652. Because few coins were minted in the Thirteen Colonies, which later became the United Colonies and then the United States, foreign coins like the Spanish dollar were widely circulated. Colonial governments, at times, issued paper money to facilitate economic activities. The Parliament of Great Britain passed currency acts in 1751, 1764, and 1773 to regulate colonial paper money. During the American Revolutionary War, the colonies became independent states. No longer subject to monetary regulations of the British Parliament, the states began to issue paper money to pay for military expenses. The Continental Congress also issued paper money during the revolution—known as continental currency—to...

Read on Wikipedia · Image National Museum Liverpool, Janny Baxter, 2010-01-28 18:19:45, Public domain