Meet the polygamists of the Bible
Pictured: a 12 shilling colonial currency note issued by New Jersey dated December 31, 1763.
As a result of British policy banning the minting of coins, the first paper money created and issued in North America were bills printed by colonialists as early as 1690—the year paper currency in the United States was created.
This 3-pence bill, seen in the obverse and reverse, was issued by the Province of Pennsylvania and dated June 18, 1764—one year before the outbreak of the American Revolution. Interestingly, it was printed by Benjamin Franklin—later to become one of the nation's Founding Fathers—and his business partner David Hall.
Early American colonists either bartered or used foreign coinage while they were under British rule. After the Massachusetts Bay Colony established a mint in Boston in 1652—but without notifying or seeking permission from the British government—coins began to be issued in denominations of 3 and 6 pence and 1 shilling. Aware of the illegal activity, the mint was closed on orders from London in 1682. Pictured is the 1652 pine tree shilling.
During the American Revolution, the colonies became independent states and no longer subject to arbitrarily imposed monetary regulations by the British Parliament. The States began issuing paper money known as Continental currency, in part to fund the war effort. This 8-pence bill dated October 1778 was engraved and printed by Paul Revere, also to become a Founding Father and who three years earlier had famously made a midnight dash on horseback to alert the colonial militia of the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Continental currency was issued in dollars, but depreciated significantly during the war due to lack of solid backing and widespread counterfeiting. This coined the famous phrase "not worth a Continental."
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence. By May 1781, Continentals had become so worthless that they ceased to circulate as money. A mechanism was put in place so that the valueless bills could be exchanged for treasury bonds—at 1% of face value! Financier and Founding Father Robert Morris was instrumental in creating the first financial institution chartered by the United States, the Bank of North America, in 1782.
Morris not only helped finance the final stages of the Revolutionary War by personally underwriting conflict debt, he presided over the issuing in 1783 of the first coins of the United States, the now highly collectible Nova Constellatio. Pictured is the 5 Unit coin.
In 1785, the United States officially adopted the dollar sign. The symbol evolved from the Spanish American figure for pesos.
The Bank of the United States was founded in 1791 by Alexander Hamilton. A revolutionary and Founding Father of the United States, he subsequently became the government's first Secretary of the Treasury.
The Fugio cent, also known as the Franklin cent, has the distinction of being the first official circulation coin of the United States. Designed by Benjamin Franklin, it was only minted in 1787 but was never circulated as Continental currency.
In 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which established the United States dollar as the country's standard unit of money. Following its ratification, the United States Mint was created. The first mint facility was built in Philadelphia (pictured).
The United States only started to issue paper money in 1861. These non-interest-bearing Demand Notes notes earned the nickname "greenbacks" because of the green ink used in the production process. The bills were the brainchild of Abraham Lincoln, created to finance the North for the civil war.
Pictured is a 1-dollar and 10-dollar bill from the Bank of North America, issued in 1862 during the American Civil War.
This is the obverse of a rare 1934 US$500 Federal Reserve Note, featuring a portrait of President William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States who served from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. The Treasury minted several versions of the US$500 bill depicting McKinley. The bill was discontinued in 1969 and remaining examples are now collector's items.
The first 1-dollar bill issued as a Legal Tender Note appeared in 1862, with a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury who served under President Abraham Lincoln.
Curiously, the 1804 silver dollar was struck by the Mint of the United States not in that year but in the 1830s or later. An example also came up in auction at Sotheby's in 2015, with an estimated value of between US$8-10 million.
The first US silver dollars, the so-called "Flowing Hair" variety, were pressed in 1794. A very rare coin, an example was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2015 for almost US$5 million.
The gold 1-dollar piece was struck by the United States Mint from 1849 to 1898. In 1873, under President Ulysses S. Grant, the Fourth Coinage Act shifted American coins to the gold standard, taking silver out of the domain of coinage for five years.
A portrait of George Washington appeared for the first time on a dollar bill in 1869, the 1-dollar note.
Martha Washington, wife of George Washington, remains the only woman ever depicted on the face of a US banknote. Her engraved portrait bust was used on the face of the 1-dollar Silver Certificate of 1886 and 1891. She and her husband are depicted here together on the reverse of the 1-dollar silver certificate of 1896.
In 1909, in honor of President Abraham Lincoln's birth centennial, the Lincoln cent was minted and issued out. Sometimes called the Lincoln penny, this was the first US currency to feature a portrait of the 16th president of the United States, and the first that included the motto "In God We Trust" (the motto only appeared on banknotes from 1957 onwards). Curiously, the Lincoln portrait is the only presidential representation that faces to the right on a coin.
Ever since it was first struck in 1938, the Jefferson nickel continues to be one of the most popular coins in circulation. The 5-cent coin underwent a redesign in 2005 and presented a new image of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. The reverse features an American bison.
The Roosevelt dime, or 10-cent piece, honors the 32nd president's fight against polio, of which he was diagnosed in 1921. The coin was minted in 1945, seven years after Franklin D. Roosevelt had founded the March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.
The United States Mint first issued the Washington quarter dollar in 1932, struck in celebration of the first president's 200th birthday. Pictured is the special bicentennial commemorative quarter bearing the double date 1776–1976.
Abraham Lincoln's portrait first appeared on a Legal Tender dollar bill—a 5-dollar note—in 1914 (a small portrait had been reproduced in 1861 but on a Demand Note). However, it's the current US$5 bill that features a reproduction of the iconic Mathew Brady portrait of Lincoln taken on February 9, 1864, and which has been in use since 2008.
The first 10-dollar bill appeared in 1861 as a Demand Note. The current bill, issued in 2006, features a portrait of Alexander Hamilton, who served as the first US Secretary of the Treasury. He is is one of two non-presidents to be featured on US paper currency.
The other non-US president afforded the distinction of appearing on a banknote is Founding Father, inventor, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin. His portrait has been on the obverse of the 100-dollar bill since 1914. The bill was redesigned in 2009, the reverse featuring an image of Independence Hall in Philadelphia—the first building outside of Washington, D.C. to be seen on any denomination.
Sources: (The U.S. Currency Education Program) (JM Bullion) (Biography) (Investopedia) (Los Angeles Times) (Smithsonian) (Money Factory)
See also: How to make money fast in an emergency
The Kennedy half dollar was first minted in 1964 as a memorial to the assassinated 35th president of the United States. Still in general circulation, the 1964 issue is a highly desirable collector's item.
To date, the signatures of four African-American men have appeared on US currency: Blanche K. Bruce, Judson W. Lyons, William T. Vernon, and James C. Napier (who in fact was of mixed race). These individuals all served as Registers of the Treasury. The fifth African American to have their signature reproduced on a Federal Reserve Note was Azie Taylor Morton, the 36th Treasurer of the United States during the Carter administration. She remains the only African-American woman to hold that position.
The next time you purchase an item or pay for a service in US dollars, give some thought to the money you're using. The history of American currency is a fascinating one, evolving from the earliest colonial coinage through the introduction of Continental bills to "greenbacks" and the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and Federal Reserve Notes we are all familiar with today. So, are you ready to cash in on the origins of US currency?
Click through and spend time learning more about the money that made America.
The fascinating story of US currency
The money that made America
LIFESTYLE History
The next time you purchase an item or pay for a service in US dollars, give some thought to the money you're using. The history of American currency is a fascinating one, evolving from the earliest colonial coinage through the introduction of Continental bills to "greenbacks" and the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and Federal Reserve Notes we are all familiar with today. So, are you ready to cash in on the origins of US currency?
Click through and spend time learning more about the money that made America.