Beginning in 1775, leaders of the 11 colonies began issuing currency for the entire group, authorizing their issue at 11 different meetings. The first notes were authorized on May 10, 1775. They included denominations of $1 through $8 and a twenty and a thirty. The notes had identical tree leaves on the backs of each denomination to prevent counterfeiting.
The issue of Nov. 29, 1775, contained the same denominations, and the designs remained the same. The issue of Feb. 17, 1776, however, contained four denominations of less than a dollar. They were one-sixth of a dollar, one-third of a dollar, one-half of a dollar, and two-thirds of a dollar. They were smaller than the other denominations and were not repeated in the rest of the issues. This was because the supply of Fractional notes proved sufficient. With the issue of Nov. 29, 1775, the ten and the 20-dollar notes were dropped. Bill Brandimore
Benjamin Franklin provided the paper, and Hall and Sellers of Philadelphia printed them. The notes were issued in August 1775 to pay the initial expenses of the war and were to be repaid by taxes levied by each colony separately and on a quota basis. The only difference in notes of this issue was in the $20 note of the first issue. Ben Franklin brought special paper from France home for the first group of notes. He used this particular paper to print the $20 bills, which featured thin white paper with polychromed edges created by a marbleized process. Only a few of these $20 notes were printed. From then on, the $20 notes were wider and shorter without polychromed edges but with the same face design. The Franklin notes are quite scarce, and very fine examples sell for four to five thousand dollars.
The meetings at which the emissions were authorized were held in Philadelphia through Nov. 2, 1776. After that, they were sometimes moved to other locations to elude the British army. The Continental Congress met from Dec. 20, 1776, to Feb. 27, 1777, in Baltimore because Philadelphia was occupied by the British. Then, those meetings were held in Philadelphia. In the issue of July 22, 1776, at Philadelphia, the $30 denomination was reinstated. In the issue of May 20, 1777, the words “United States” replaced “United Colonies.” In Yorktown, the issue of April 11, 1778, added the $40. This issue was smaller, and the notes were quite pricy. Here is a note from Yorktown. Bill Brandimore
You have already seen the less-than-a-dollar examples. Finding all the denominations of notes makes for a very satisfying collection. In general, the notes are quite interesting and attractive. Also, Newman’s book will provide hours of interesting facts about this historic set of notes.
Back in Philadelphia, the issue of Sept. 28, 1778, saw the addition of $50 and $60 notes. Finally, the issue of Jan. 14, 1779, saw $45, $55, $65, $70, and $80 notes. In general, you can put a set together of denominations of notes priced reasonably, although notes of Yorktown, the Philadelphia notes of May 20, 1777, will be pricier. Notes of Jan. 14, 1779, will be the easiest to find, especially the high denomination notes of that issue. Redemption of Continental Currency was slow and meager. They finally were redeemed for about 1 percent for some holders. Thus, the expression “Not worth a Continental.” Here are $1 and $80 notes, the high and low of these notes. Bill Brandimore
