Catalog
1/2 Dollar 'Continental Currency' - United Colonies
| Issuer | Continental Congress of the United States |
|---|---|
| Year | 1776 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is set within an ornate letterpress border, with the denomination HALF A DOLLAR repeated in the top and bottom panels in a decorative vine-scroll frieze. To the right, a circular vignette encloses a sundial with rays of the sun above and the motto FUGIO to the left; below the sundial the legend MIND YOUR BUSINESS appears within the circle. To the left of the vignette, the authorizing text reads ACCORDING to a Resolution of Congress, passed at Philadelphia, February 17, 1776 in italic script. A hand-written serial number appears at the top, with a plate letter at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a circular chain of thirteen interlinked rings, each bearing the abbreviated name of one of the thirteen original colonies, surrounding a central medallion. The central medallion carries the legend AMERICAN CONGRESS above and WE ARE ONE below, symbolizing the union of the colonies. The imprint of the printer Hall & Sellers of Philadelphia and the date 1776 appear at the foot of the note. |
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| Comments |
The Continental Currency emissions of 1776 were printed by Hall & Sellers — the same Philadelphia firm that printed the Pennsylvania Gazette — using a press design system devised by Benjamin Franklin, who had developed an anti-counterfeiting technique involving nature prints: impressions taken directly from sage leaves or other botanicals pressed into the casting matrix, making the lacy vein patterns nearly impossible to reproduce by hand engraving. Whether that method was applied to this specific denomination within the CC-6 emission is worth checking against the plate records.
The issuing authority styled itself "United Colonies" rather than "United States" — the Declaration of Independence came later that same year, and notes printed before July carried the older designation. Newman's reference distinguishes the emissions carefully; CC-6 places this half dollar firmly in the pre-declaration print run.