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On May 10th 1775 -- with the seeds of the Revolutionary war having just been sown with the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, & Battle of Lexington --
and with the Declaration of Independence still more than a year away -- the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia authorized the issuance of paper money.
At the meeting, Congress authorized 49,000 impressions each for denominations of $1 through $8, and printing began soon after.
Later bills with denominations of $20 to $80 were added to the mix.
The money, for "The United Colonies", was to be used to pay war expenses and was to be redeemed from taxes collected by the colonies.
Unfortunately, the words "payable in Spanish Milled Dollars or Gold" was a promise the fledgling government could not fulfill.
Within a few years, the financial abilities of the Continental Congress diminished and the notes became nearly valueless.
Throughout the 1780's, a few speculators were buying $500 in paper bills for $1 in coin.
In August 1790, Congress passed a bill stating that Continental Currency was recievable at the Treasury at the rate of $100 in currency for $1 in silver or gold coin,
netting a profit of 500% to the speculators. In 1793, all bills were repudiated, and they could no longer circulate as money.
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May 10, 1775 $5 Continental Currency Note
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Item: 5/10/1775 $5 Continental Currency Note
Ranking: #48 of 100 Greatest American Currency Notes
Estimated Number Known: 1,500 to 2,500
Noteworthy 1: First paper $5 bill of what would later become the United States of America.
Noteworthy 2: An anti-counterfeiting leaf motif, invented by Ben Franklin, was used on the reverse.
Noteworthy 3: Leaf patterns were unique & complex, and nearly impossible to reproduce.
Noteworthy 4: On the $5 note, a betony & sage leaf was used.
Noteworthy 5: Each denomination ($1 through $8) had 49,000 impressions struck.
Noteworthy 6: Bills were signed with brown & red ink; the serial number was in dark red ink.
Noteworthy 7: Bills were made using border cuts, emblem cuts, nature prints & hand set type.
Noteworthy 8: Franklin explained, "The thorny bush represents America, the bleeding hand Britain".
Noteworthy 9: The motto SUSTINE VEL ABSTINE means "Support me, or leave me alone".
Noteworthy 10: The paper stock had mica flakes and tiny blue fibers added for security.
Noteworthy 11: The stock was thick and cardboard-like, prompting the Brittish to call it the "Cardboard Currency of the Colonies".
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After the unmitigated disaster of Continental Currency, any U.S. bank was allowed to produce paper currency for use by its customers and community.
Unfortunately, few safeguards were taken to ensure that banks stood behind the currency they were producing and circulating.
Banks, more often than not, failed and their currency was rendered worthless giving rise to the currency's alternate name "Broken Bank Notes".
As a result, most bank notes of the period did not trade at their full retail value.
Oftentimes notes were worth only 50¢ on the dollar because the public expected most banks to fail.
From 1782 until early 1866 more than 2,000 different banks issued notes in various denominations.
On July 1, 1866, a 10% federal tax was levied on all business done with these notes, terminating their usefulness.
It's believed that this was done because starting in 1861, the U.S. Government was printing it's own paper currency (again)
and did not want competition from private sector banks.
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1859 $10 "Dix" Obsolete Bank Note
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With the start of the Civil War in April 1861, the Union was in dire need of financing. The Treasury reserves had been at a low point before the conflict,
now the situation worsened. By 1862, with the outcome of the war in doubt, people began to
hoard gold, silver, and copper coins. To raise cash and fill the need for circulating money, Treasury created a new class of notes called Legal Tender Notes.
These were not redeemable in coins but instead exchangable in payment for certain debts. This paper money, with no real backing, traded at a discount in relation
to gold, silver, and copper coins of about 50 cents on the dollar.
By the 1870's with the financial crisis over, the Treasury began producing some notes backed by silver and gold coins,
which gave more confidence to the public of the value of paper currency.
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1862 $1 Legal Tender Note
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Item: 1862 $1 Legal Tender Note (F-16)
Ranking: #31 of 100 Greatest American Currency Notes
Estimated Number Known: 3,000 to 5,000
Noteworthy 1: This was the first Federal $1 bill.
Noteworthy 2: The bright green back popularized the term "Greenback".
Noteworthy 3: The highlighted 1 in the center denotes the $1 denomination.
Noteworthy 4: The 2 in the center was highlighted on the $2 bill.
Noteworthy 5: The 3 was never used, as the $3 bill was planned but never made.
Noteworthy 6: The portrait was Salmon Chase, Treasury Secretary under Lincoln.
Noteworthy 7: Chase is considered the father of Federal paper currency.
High-Resolution Scan (600 dpi) (16.2 MB)
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1869 $1 "Rainbow" Treasury Note
1896 $1 "Educational" Silver Certificate
1899 $1 "Black Eagle" Silver Certificate
1899 $2 "Mini Porthole" Silver Certificate
1907 $10 "Michael Hillegas" Gold Certificate
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At the end of the 1920's, the Treasury Department was purchasing tons of high-grade, specially prepared paper required to print currency.
It was soon realized that millions of dollars could be saved if the notes were reduced in size.
At the same time, it was decided to make currency designs more uniform with a particular portrait reserved for each denomination.
On July 10, 1929, the first of the current, reduced-size notes (made 17% smaller) were placed in circulation.
The timing inadvertently signified a new era in United States money.
When the change was made there were no less than six types of United States paper currency:
Federal Reserve Bank Notes,
National Bank Notes,
Gold Certificates,
Silver Certificates,
United States Notes,
& Federal Reserve Notes.
But only three months later, the stock market crash ushered in the era of the Great Depression during which three of those types of currency would disappear leaving only:
Silver Certificates,
United States Notes,
& Federal Reserve Notes.
Thirty years later, two of the remaining types of currency would also disappear, leaving only one today: Federal Reserve Notes.
It's interesting that the very large denomination Federal Reserve Notes of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 were discontinued in the 1940's.
Today, the largest denomination note produced by the Federal Reserve is $100.
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1928 $10 Gold Certificate
1928 $20 Gold Certificate
1957 $1 Silver Certificate
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Item: 1957 $1 Silver Certificate (F-1619)
Estimated Number Known: Hundreds of Thousands
Noteworthy 1: 1957 was the last year of issue for Silver Certificates.
Noteworthy 2: Small-sized Silver Certificates are common in all grades.
Noteworthy 3: 90% silver dimes, quarters and half dollars, made until 1964, were used as backing for Silver Certificates.
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To the left of each image: 
100 Greatest American Currency Notes
A Guide Book Of United States Paper Money
Item: 1859 $10 "Dix" Obsolete Bank Note 
Item: 1869 $1 "Rainbow" Treasury Note (F-18)
Item: 1896 $1 "Educational" Silver Certificate (F-224)
Noteworthy 5: Border includes the names of 23 prominent Americans.
Item: 1899 $1 "Black Eagle" Silver Certificate (F-233)
Item: 1899 $2 "Mini Porthole" Silver Certificate (F-258)
Item: 1907 $10 "Michael Hillegas" Gold Certificate (F-1171)
Noteworthy 7: Hillegas, was such an obscure historical figure, then as now,
that he was identified in small print under his name "First Treasurer of the U.S.".
Noteworthy 5: It's amazing that as late as 1932, you could take your $10 Gold Certificate to the bank and walk out with a $10 Gold Coin. 
Noteworthy 2: Twenty Dolar Gold Certificates were backed by a vast store of $20 Saint Gaudens "Double Eagle" Gold Coins. 