5 Six years of war had drained an already-short supply of domestic specie, a necessity for international trade. So little specie remained in the treasury that the “continentals,” used to finance the war, had depreciated to about two cents on the dollar.
The United States lacked a common, sound currency to settle its debts, and without federal authority to levy taxes, it lacked a ready path back to solvency. (Another Franklin quote applies: “Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily crack’d, and never well mended.” 6) In desperation, the Founding Fathers made a successful Philadelphia merchant, Robert Morris, their new superintendent of finance.