Guide to the Collection
Supported by the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati.
This collection consists of paper currency issued by the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War.
From June 1775 to 1779, Congress ordered 11 emissions of Continental Currency to the amount of 226 million Spanish milled Dollars. These bills constituted 82% of the federal government’s income during this period. At first the currency circulated at a par with the Spanish milled dollar, but since the states were simultaneously emitting their own bills of credit and debt certificates to cover their war expenses, the glut of bills issued without sound financial revenues soon led to depreciation of all forms of circulating paper, but especially that of Congress. Great Britain contributed to this financial instability through counterfeiting the issues of 20 May 1777 and 11 April 1778 to such a degree that Congress recalled both issues in their entirety. In January 1777, $1.25 of Continental Currency could purchase $1 in specie (gold or silver coins). By January 1781, it took $100 in Continentals to obtain $1 in hard money. This depreciation had effectively put an end to circulation of the paper bills by 1779, when Congress resolved to stop issuing them altogether.
This collection contains paper bills printed by the Continental Congress to finance the army, provisions, governmental actions, and all other aspects of national protection and security during the Revolutionary war.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. 1775 May 10 issue.
Printed by Hall and Sellers of Philadelphia.
II. 1775 November 29 issue.
Printed by Hall and Sellers, Philadelphia.
III. 1776 February 17 issue
IV. 1776 May 9 issue
V. 1776 July 22 issue
VI. 1776 November 2 issue
VII. 1777 February 28 issue
VIII. 1777 May 20 issue
IX. 1778 April 11 issue
X. 1778 September 26 issue
XI. 1779 January 14 issue
United States Continental paper currency, Massachusetts Historical Society.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.