Daily AncestorBills of credit
Bills of credit were paper money issued by a colony or state, meant to circulate as cash and be redeemed later, often by being accepted for taxes.
In an 1830 Supreme Court case, Chief Justice John Marshall described bills of credit as paper meant to circulate as money and redeemable at a future day. He noted that Massachusetts first issued them in 1690, when an army came home from a failed expedition against Canada and the government could not pay it.
Many colonies followed, and the bills often lost value when too many were printed. The Constitution of 1787 forbids states to emit bills of credit. In records you may see sums paid in the bills of credit of this Province.
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Daily Ancestor. "Bills of credit." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/money-measures/bills-of-credit. Last checked 2026-10-03.