The existence of money as a means of buying or selling goods and services dates back to at least 3000 B.C., when the Sumerians began using metal coins in place of bartering with barley. The use of paper money began in China during the seventh century, but its uncertain value, as opposed to the more universally accepted value of gold or silver coins, led to widespread inflation and state bankruptcy. It was not until 1658, when Swedish financier Johann Palmstruck introduced a paper bank note for the Swedish State Bank, that paper money again entered circulation.

The first paper money in what is now the United States was issued by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1690. It was valued in British pounds. The first dollar bills were issued in Maryland in the 1760s. During the American Revolution, the fledgling Continental Congress issued Continental Currency to finance the war...