The History of the US Mint

When the early colonists came over from England they felt little need for a system of coinage. Their main concern was finding a place to settle and establishing their homes. The colonists felt that they could be self-sufficient, having the ability to grow and supply everything that they would need. In addition, the boats that came over from the “Mother Country” could only carry a limited amount of weight; therefore using precious storage space for coins was discouraged. However, the success of the colonists in supplying their own needs led to excess produce. This excess in turn generated the need for a medium of exchange.

The first system of exchange to be established was the barter system. A particular farmer might have a need for wooden chairs. He is a producer of chickens. Perhaps he would devise a method of exchange such as twenty (20) chickens for four (4) wooden chairs. If he had more chickens, maybe he would exchange them for bushels of corn, and so on. The value of the chickens, chairs or corn was measured by the time and effort it took to produce them. Barter objects included grain, tobacco, livestock and animal pelts. Even wives were purchased through the barter system. The greatest problem with this system of exchange was its inconsistency; the time it took one person to produce four wooden chairs might be a different duration than it took another person. Thus, there was no way to make the values uniform.