Conclusion

Abstract

Ultimately none of the proposals for an imperial paper currency were adopted, but their importance was nevertheless profound. They show that even in the mid-eighteenth century it was already becoming possible to conceive of a currency system or monetary union that could unite British America and overcome its political, economic and military problems. They failed to become reality only because the political will was lacking. The proposals were therefore the first stage in a prolonged, halting and largely iterative process of currency reform after 1776 in both the new United States and the British Empire, which each adopted programmes of monetary union as the military, fiscal and commercial problems of the circulating medium first diagnosed in the mid-eighteenth century made themselves felt.KeywordsMoneyMonetary unionAmerican RevolutionBritish Empire