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The following is a brief history of Money in the United
States birth to present. Various references were used in
compiling this
information.
The first money used in what is now the United States of
America was Private Money.
Various types of paper money were in use in all of the
American Colonies, issued while they were still under
English rule.
Beginning in the mid-1775, the Continental Congress
authorized the issuance of currency to finance the
Revolutionary War.
This became known as Continental Currency. But the
Continental Currency depreciated to a point where it
cost more to print
than it would buy. The depreciation of this money is the
source of the expression “not worth a Continental.”
After the Constitution was ratified, the coinage system
of the United States was established. The first coins of
the new country
were struck in 1793 at the Philadelphia Mint.
In 1815 the Government issued Treasure Notes. They did
not circulate as money, except a few of the small
denomination
notes of $5, $10, $20 & $30 Dollar.
During the period of 1793-1861 the United States was
virtually blanketed by issues of State Bank Notes. This
was the result of
the States granting to many private banks in their
jurisdiction the authority to print and circulate their
own Money.
Congress past the act of July 17, 1761, which permitted
the Treasure Department to print and circulate paper
money. These
first United States Notes are known as Demand Notes, the
Legal Tender Notes followed them in 1862. From 1761 all
currency
issued by the United States Government has remained
valid.
Through all the changes in the money in circulation in
the United States, Private Money has remained legal.
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