The dollar emerged as the official currency of the United States at a meeting of the Continental Congress on 8th August, 1786. During the American Revolution, various international coins had remained in circulation - alongside commodities like tobacco and cod.

The transition to paper money faced challenges due to counterfeiting concerns, which persisted until the Civil War. The green colour was chosen to prevent easy replication using black and white photography. The value of the dollar was linked to gold until as recently as 1971.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly applaud Benjamin Franklin’s far-sighted interest in creating a new currency; marvel at the extraordinary success the dollar has achieved as the world’s reserve; and reveal the country’s first experiments with a decimal system: Nova Constellatio coins…

Further Reading:

• ‘History of U.S. Currency’ (U.S. Currency Education Program): https://www.uscurrency.gov/history

• ‘Why Is the U.S. Dollar the World's Currency?’ (HowStuffWorks): https://money.howstuffworks.com/us-dollar-worlds-currency.htm

• ‘The Continental Dollar: How the American Revolution Was Financed with Paper Money’ (US National Archives, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05mhUlofB_8

This episode first aired in 2023

This episode first premiered in 2024, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

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