1775: America's First Paper Currency

Most Americans probably wouldn’t recognize the earliest U.S. currency that its citizens used or, in many cases, avoided because it was swiftly considered worthless paper.

American currency had a modest beginning. According to Treasury Department records, on June 22, 1775 (a few days after the Battle of Bunker Hill), Congress issued $2 million in bills.

It was a low-budget operation, by today’s standards: The Treasury says that three days after the issuance, “28 citizens of Philadelphia were employed by the Congress to sign and number the currency.” The picture shows how the hand-signed money looked. This $65 Continental note is from 1779 but, as you might suspect, the handiwork of the citizens of Philadelphia did not prove to be sufficient deterrence for counterfeiters.

By 1781, the $241.5 million of paper Continentals, which were easily counterfeited, had devalued at a rate of from 500 to 1,000 to 1 against the world’s stable (or “hard”) currencies. Protests broke out against what America had to offer. That’s “not worth a Continental,” the saying went.

It wasn’t until 1861 that the first general-circulation paper money was issued, to finance the Civil War. Technically, the first greenbacks were called non-interest-bearing Demand Notes, and were printed in green on the back. (Check your grandparents’ attics: The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says all U.S. currency issued since 1861 remains valid.)

The famous motto “In God We Trust,” which was already being used on coinage, first appeared on the 1957 dollar bill.

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