Daily AncestorContinental currency
Continental currency was the paper money the Continental Congress issued from 1775 to pay for the Revolutionary War; it lost nearly all its value.
Continental bills were issued in dollars, from one sixth of a dollar up to 80 dollars. So many were printed, and so many were counterfeited, that by 1780 they were worth about one fortieth of their face value, and by May 1781 they had stopped circulating. The saying not worth a Continental comes from them.
Estate sales and inventories from 1778 to 1781 priced in Continental dollars can show startling sums. Compare them with other prices from the same year and place, not with later dollars.
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Daily Ancestor. "Continental currency." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/money-measures/continental-currency. Last checked 2026-10-03.