Coins

A Coin at the Crossroads of America

The 1776 Continental $1 Pewter coin represents the strength and struggles of the Continental Congress in the midst of a Revolution for the foundation of the United States of America. Featuring designs by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, and later used in the more recognizable Fugio 1-cent coin, the reverse features the thirteen interlocking rings symbolizing the colonies and an obverse of a sundial and the famous phrase “Mind Your Business”. The coin itself is representative of the immense economic troubles that plagued the renegade colonies throughout all stages of the war. Minted in pewter and not a precious metal like silver or gold; the actual use, authorization and history behind this coin continues to be debated. There is no record of the Continental Congress actually authorizing this coin’s mintage and the use of pewter suggests that these few examples were minted as a pattern, or trial, coin to test the design in hopes of future coinage in silver that was meant to arrive from Spain but never materialized. As late as 2008, articles have suggested that this coin might have even been a satirical “jab” at the near valueless nature of Continental currency by British citizens and Loyalists in the colonies. Known examples, however, regularly show examples of wear from circulation suggesting that joke-or-not, these coins found their way into shops, taverns and pockets of the earliest citizens of the United States of America in their nascent attempts at building a great nation.