<P> Another problem was that the British successfully waged economic warfare by counterfeiting Continentals on a large scale . Benjamin Franklin later wrote: </P> <P> The artists they employed performed so well that immense quantities of these counterfeits which issued from the British government in New York, were circulated among the inhabitants of all the states, before the fraud was detected . This operated significantly in depreciating the whole mass . </P> <P> By the end of 1778, Continentals retained from ​ ⁄ to ​ ⁄ of their face value . By 1780, the bills were worth ​ ⁄ of their face value . Congress attempted to reform the currency by removing the old bills from circulation and issuing new ones, without success . By May 1781, Continentals had become so worthless that they ceased to circulate as money . Franklin noted that the depreciation of the currency had, in effect, acted as a tax to pay for the war . </P> <P> For this reason, some Quakers, whose pacifism did not permit them to pay war taxes, also refused to use Continentals, and at least one Yearly Meeting formally forbade its members to use the notes . In the 1790s, after the ratification of the United States Constitution, Continentals could be exchanged for treasury bonds at 1% of face value . </P>

For many years in the united states each bank printed its own currency