INTRODUCTION
Due to a lack of hard currency and Congressional monetary policies, continental currency depreciated badly during the Revolutionary War. The British hastened its decline through economic warfare by producing counterfeits that were virtually indistinguishable from the originals. As Benjamin Franklin
explains, British forgeries “performed so well that immense quantities of these counterfeits which issued from the British government in New York, were circulated among the inhabitants of all the states, before the fraud was detected.”
Benjamin Franklin bought the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1729. Soon afterwards, in 1731, Pennsylvania contracted him to print paper currency, in part because of his writings on the subject. Franklin concentrated on producing the best paper notes possible, developing new anti-counterfeiting methods. The most famous were his “nature prints” using casts of leaves to create unique “fingerprints” and adding mica to the paper in a secret process. Both were ahead of their time and proved difficult for counterfeiters to reproduce.
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AUDIO COMPANION
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The new Continental Currency drew on patriotic imagery for its designs, often inspired by famed American printer, scientist and diplomat, Benjamin Franklin. First issued in 1775, the notes ranged from $1/6 to $80 denominations and depended on patriotism for their value, as the Continental Congress had no monetary reserves to back them. Further complicating the new nation’s finances, the independent states issued their own, independent currencies, as well, each with their own denominations and exchange rates. Thus, a New Jersey pound held a distinct value from its English counterpart; the Maryland dollar did not equal the Continental dollar. To alleviate confusion, the Constitution stripped the States of their right to issue legal tender currency in 1792. The Federal government, however, retained the right to issue paper, though it refused to do so except in emergencies (specifically, the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War). Not until the Civil War did America look to paper money as a permanent solution.
VIDEO: COLONIAL CURRENCY
