British businessmen and some colonial governors also produced tokens and copper coins with royal permission. Unfortunately, the minimalist design allowed people to clip the edges for bullion and they were soon replaced by willow, oak and pine tree designs. In 1652, the Massachusetts Bay Colony began striking its own silver shillings. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Britain fought with other European powers for territorial control of North America, but tended to neglect the economic needs of her colonies. coins first showed a personification of Liberty, and this word still appears on all new coins issued by the U.S. President George Washington rejected coins bearing his portrait on the grounds that they were tyrannical.

Benjamin Franklin designed a coin that exhorted Americans to “Mind Your Business,” which here means to keep one’s attention on one’s work. The early coinage of the independent United States is fascinating for what it says about the formation of the new nation, and coin design even drew the attention of the Founding Fathers. After 1788, the right to issue coins was reserved for the federal government, and the U.S. Between 17, when the Constitution was ratified, both the states and the federal government produced coins, either as test patterns or for circulation. The Articles of Confederation that governed the relationship among the states allowed each one to issue its own coinage. Colonial governments also printed their own paper notes. The pressing need for currency meant that people often used counterfeit coins or small-denomination private issues. While Massachusetts did strike coins in the late 17th century, most of the money in circulation at the time of the Revolution was either Spanish or British. During the 17th and 18th centuries, coins were often hard to come by in the British colonies, and royal authority was generally inattentive to the economic needs of its North American possessions. North America’s first European settlers often traded by barter, using corn, tobacco, and other goods as currency. Return to Drachmas, Dubloons, and Dollars homepage

Us liberty coins history