A common currency
Subtitle: early U.S. monetary policy and the transition to the dollar
By: Peter L. Rousseau.
Contributors: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series ;; working paper 10702; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) ;; working paper no. 10702.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Subjects: Money -- United States -- History.; Finance, Public -- United States -- History.
Description: "The transition of the U.S.  money supply from the mixture of paper bills of credit, certificates, and foreign coins that circulated at various exchange rates with the British pound sterling during the colonial period to the unified dollar standard of the early national period was rapid and had far-reaching consequences.  This paper documents the transition and highlights the importance of this standardization in bringing order to the nation's finances and in facilitating the accumulation and intermediation of capital.  It describes how the struggle of the colonies to maintain viable substitutes for hard money set the stage for the financial leaders of the Federalist period, led by Alexander Hamilton, to settle upon the dollar, attach it to a convertible metallic base, and create a national Bank that issued notes denominated in the new monetary unit.  It also presents recently-constructed estimates of the U.S.  money stock for 1790-1820 and relates them to measures of the nation's early modernization"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Also available in print.
Includes bibliographical references.
Title from PDF file as viewed on 1/7/2005.
System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.