# What did colonists and early Americans use as coins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-colonists-and-early-americans-use-as-coins/824082 "2018-11-06T16:48:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-colonists-and-early-americans-use-as-coins/824082/21 "2018-11-07T20:40:41Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Thanks. I’ve been looking at these things and wondering how long they were around in circulation, and the geographic migration of a coins life. A popular coin for collectors is the 1792 disme (.10) and half-disme (.05), considered to be the first US coin struck under the Mint Act of 1792. They were only struck in that year, and you can find them on ebay occasionally for only $50,000 or so, but at auction, they’ve been known to bring six figures. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-colonists-and-early-americans-use-as-coins/824082/22 "2018-11-07T22:53:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > A popular coin for collectors is the 1792 disme (.10) and half-disme (.05), considered to be the first US coin struck under the Mint Act of 1792. They were only struck in that year, and you can find them on ebay occasionally for only $50,000 or so, but at auction, they’ve been known to bring six figures. Only $50,000! I have in my mind that Ben Franklin died in 1790 and so I’m trying to hit a sweet spot of what and when he (or fellow philadelphians) was most likely to have used coinage. This is why I wonder about the circulation and lifespan of spanish doubloons (escudos), or other gold coins. But for all I know they didn’t see any gold coins. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-colonists-and-early-americans-use-as-coins/824082/23 "2018-11-07T23:49:00Z")
IIRC, Franklin’s autobiography starts with an accounting of exactly what coins (not very many) he had in his pocket when he first arrived in Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-colonists-and-early-americans-use-as-coins/824082/24 "2018-11-08T00:21:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > IIRC, Franklin’s autobiography starts with an accounting of exactly what coins (not very many) he had in his pocket when he first arrived in Philadelphia. A Dutch dollar and about a shilling in copper? I don’t think gold coins qualify as random pocket change in any era. Franklin writes that he got a surprising (to him) amount of bread for three pennies. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-colonists-and-early-americans-use-as-coins/824082/25 "2018-11-08T06:21:44Z")
Just need to add - from what I recall a coins value was based on its weight of metal. It’s not as if the colonists kept a mental picture of assorted exchange rates; and this is why they could cut up a coin into pocket change. Coinage if recognizable simply assured that the metal was somewhat reliably as pure as pure as expected. So striking your own money was not that much a license to “print money”. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-colonists-and-early-americans-use-as-coins/824082/26 "2018-11-08T06:49:56Z")
The Fugio Cent looks like a good bet. Franklin made it. Duh. > **[Fugio cent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugio_Cent)** > > The Fugio cent, also known as the Franklin cent, is the first official circulation coin of the United States. Consisting of 0.36 oz (10 g) of copper and minted dated 1787, by some accounts it was designed by Benjamin Franklin. Its design is very similar to a 1776 Continental Currency dollar coin that was produced in pattern pieces as potential Continental currency but was never circulated. > On April 21, 1787, the Congress of the Confederation of the United States authorized a design for an offi... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-colonists-and-early-americans-use-as-coins/824082.md?page=1)