b"The dollar emerged as the official currency of the United States at a meeting of the Continental Congress on 8th August, 1786. During the American Revolution, various international coins had remained in circulation - alongside commodities like tobacco and cod.\\nThe transition to paper money faced challenges due to counterfeiting concerns, which persisted until the Civil War. The green colour was chosen to prevent easy replication using black and white photography. The value of the dollar was linked to gold until as recently as 1971.\\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly applaud Benjamin Franklin\\u2019s far-sighted interest in creating a new currency; marvel at the extraordinary success the dollar has achieved as the world\\u2019s reserve; and reveal the country\\u2019s first experiments with a decimal system: Nova Constellatio coins\\u2026\\nFurther Reading:\\n\\u2022 \\u2018History of U.S. Currency\\u2019 (U.S. Currency Education Program): https://www.uscurrency.gov/history\\n\\u2022 \\u2018Why Is the U.S. Dollar the World's Currency?\\u2019 (HowStuffWorks): https://money.howstuffworks.com/us-dollar-worlds-currency.htm\\n\\u2022 \\u2018The Continental Dollar: How the American Revolution Was Financed with Paper Money\\u2019 (US National Archives, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05mhUlofB_8\\n#Economics #US #Empire #1700s\\nLove the show? Join\\xa0\\U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\\xa0\\U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\\nJoin now via\\xa0Apple Podcasts\\xa0or\\xa0Patreon.\\xa0Thanks!\\n\\xa0\\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:\\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\\n\\xa0\\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices"