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The Massachusetts Bay Colony issued the first paper money in the colonies that would later form the United States
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The Continental Congress chartered the Bank of North America in Philadelphia as the nation's first “real” bank to give further financial support to the Revolutionary War.
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The Continental Congress adopted the dollar as the unit for national currency. At that time, private bank-note companies printed a variety of notes.
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Demand Notes were replaced by United States Notes. Commonly called “greenbacks” because of the green tint introduced to discourage photographic counterfeiting, they were last issued in 1971. The Secretary of the Treasury was empowered by Congress to have notes engraved and printed by private bank note companies. The notes were signed and affixed with seals by six Treasury Department employees.
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The design of U.S. currency incorporated a Treasury seal, the fine-line engraving necessary for the difficult-to-counterfeit intaglio printing, intricate geometric lathe work patterns, and distinctive cotton and linen paper with embedded red and blue fibers.
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The inscription In God We Trust was first issued in 1957. The inscription appears on all currency series 1963 and later.
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The program is scheduled to run from 1999 until 2008, with five new quarters released every year over ten years. The 50 new quarters will feature a design that honors each state's unique history and tradition. The quarters are being released in the order that the states joined the union.
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The US Treasury introduced redesign of the $5 and $10 bill to make it harder to counterfeit.
