2 Dollars, Continental Congress, 1776
date: label: date made
content: 1776
label: date on object
content: 1776-02-17
name: label: maker
content: Continental Congress
label: maker
content: Hall & Sellers
notes: label: Description
content: By the time they broke with England, the thirteen American colonies had been issuing paper currency for nearly a century. Both they and the loose central government they set up under the Articles of Confederation to oversee matters of common concern would continue to do so throughout the War of Independence. The "national" paper went by the name of "Continental Currency." As its name suggests, it was issued by the Continental Congress.
label: Description
content: The paper on which it was printed was of very high quality but was also very soft. Because the notes were often folded horizontally, they often developed top-to-bottom breaks at midpoint. Left to themselves, the two halves would eventually part company. Whether anyone would take just half a note in payment was unclear. That uncertainty led people to adopt all kinds of stratagems to keep notes intact or repair those that had torn apart.
label: Description
content: But there was more to it than that. To many, this new money symbolized a new nation-it had to be repaired, kept afloat. Because if it were not, what would that say about the aspiring nation that had issued it? Various methods were devised to do the job. In the case of this two-dollar bill, someone expert with a needle and thread-perhaps a housewife, or a sailor-carefully sewed the two halves back together. That effort has now survived for more than two centuries.
label: Description
content: Continental currency was printed by Benjamin Franklin's successors, Hall & Sellers. Franklin also suggested inspiring vignettes and mottoes for the notes. The face of the two-dollar bill bears an image of grain being flailed (separated from the chaff), with the motto, TRIBULATIO DITAT (Troubles make us stronger).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
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content: NNC Colonial Currency
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content: Coins
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content: Numismatics
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content: Coins, Currency and Medals
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content: NNC Continental Currency
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content: Legendary Coins
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Zoomable Image and Details
label: Related Publication
content: Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Stack's
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: NU.69.217.34
label: accession number
content: 287114
label: catalog number
content: 69.217.34
objectType: label: Object Name
content: paper money
label: Object Name
content: note
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: black ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 70 mm x 95 mm; 2 3/4 in x 3 3/4 in