On this day, the Massachusetts Bay Colony became the first government to issue paper currency in the Western hemisphere.

The General Court authorized the issuing of £7,000 in public paper currency to pay expenses relating to a military action in Canada during King William's War.

This was the first time money itself had no intrinsic other than the promise of a government. Within a few months it was further legislated that the paper money would be accepted by the government for tax payments at a 5% discount. The bills were individually numbered, and each notched so they would form a pattern with the other bills in their sequence, which deterred counterfeiting.