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1/3 Dollar 'Continental Currency' - United Colonies
| Issuer | Continental Congress of the United States |
|---|---|
| Year | 1776 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P-CC9 |
| Obverse description | A sundial vignette at left centre within a rectangular frame, inscribed with the motto MIND YOUR BUSINESS beneath the dial face. To the right, the denomination ONE THIRD OF A DOLLAR is set in large bold letterpress type, followed by the authorising text referencing the Congressional Resolution passed at Philadelphia, February 17, 1776. A decorative typographic border surrounds the entire face, with the denomination ONE THIRD repeated in the lower margin flanked by typographic ornaments. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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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."