Students will be able to describe the basic monetary system in use in American leading up to, and to a degree during, the Revolutionary War and solve simple math problems using this system. Background Money in early America was complicated. As British colonies, we used British currency, both paper and coins. Yet the colonies also printed their own paper money, with some colonies not necessarily accepting money from other colonies. Using a unified standard, the British system, made economic sense. With the American Revolution, the new states continued their practice of printing their own money, Duration: 30 Minutes.