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1/3 Dollar 'Continental Currency' - United Colonies
| Issuer | Continental Congress of the United States |
|---|---|
| Year | 1776 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ONE THIRD of a DOLLAR, According to a Reso- lution of Congress paffed at Philadelphia February 17, 1776. B {Signature} ONE THIRD. |
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| Reverse lettering | One Third of a Dollar Printed by Hall & Sellers in Philadelphia. 1776. |
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| Comments |
Hall & Sellers — the Philadelphia firm behind the Pennsylvania Gazette — printed the entire Continental Currency series under contract, and Benjamin Franklin's direct involvement in the design philosophy is well documented. The fractional denominations like this one were a deliberate policy choice: the Continental Congress needed notes small enough for everyday transactions, since the colonies had long been starved of small-denomination specie by British mercantilist policy.
The one-third dollar denomination is among the more unusual in the series, rooted in the Spanish milled dollar's traditional division into thirds and sixths rather than decimal fractions. Continental Currency collapsed catastrophically by 1779–1780, with exchange rates against hard money reaching 40-to-1 or worse, giving the English language the phrase "not worth a Continental."