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The history of the United States Dollar refers to more than 200 years since the Continental Congress of the United States authorized the issuance of the US dollar September 8, 1786. The term 'dollar' had already been in common usage since the colonial period when it referred to eight-real coin (Spanish dollar) used by the Spanish throughout New Spain. After several monetary systems were proposed for the early republic, the dollar was approved by Congress to be released in a variety of denominated coins and currency bills. ==Background== By the end of 1778, Continental Currency retained only between 1/5 to 1/7 of its original face value. By 1780, Continental bills - or Continentals - were worth just 1/40th of their face value. Congress tried to reform the currency by removing the old bills from circulation and issuing new ones, but this met with little or no success. By May 1781, Continentals had become so worthless they ceased to circulate as money. Benjamin Franklin noted that the depreciation of the currency had, in effect, acted as a tax to pay for the war. In the 1790s, after the ratification of the United States Constitution, Continentals could be exchanged for treasury bonds at 1% of face value. Congress appointed Robert Morris to be Superintendent of Finance of the United States following the collapse of Continental currency. In 1782, Morris advocated the creation of the first financial institution chartered by the United States. The Bank of North America was funded in part by specie loaned to the United States by France. Morris helped finance the final stages of the war by issuing notes in his name, backed by his own money. The Bank of North America also issued notes convertible into specie.〔Wright, p.62.〕 On August 8, 1785, the Continental Congress of the United States authorized the issuance of a new currency, the US dollar. However, runaway inflation and the collapse of the Continental currency prompted delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 to include the gold and silver clause in the United States Constitution, preventing individual States from issuing their own bills of credit. Article One states they were prohibited to "make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts."〔U.S. Constitution, Article One, section 10.〕 This restriction of bills of credit was extended to the Federal Government, as the power to "emit bills" from the Articles of Confederation was abolished, leaving only Congress with the power "to borrow money on credit."〔U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 8.〕 The United States Mint was created by Congress following the passing of the Coinage Act of 1792. It was primarily tasked with producing and circulating coinage. The first Mint building was in Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States. The Mint was originally placed within the Department of State, until the Coinage Act of 1873 when it became part of the Department of the Treasury (in 1981 it was placed under the auspices of the Treasurer of the United States). The Mint had the authority to convert any precious metals into standard coinage for anyone's account with no seigniorage charge beyond refining costs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of the United States dollar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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