1782 dated Connecticut Continental Pay order signed by John Lawrence and Samuel Comstock - Connecticut - American Revolutionary War

Connecticut Continental pay order for Cap't Samuel Comstock signed by John Lawrence on front and Samuel Comstock on back.Comstock was the son of Samuel Comstock Senior.

Samuel Comstock (February 6, 1680 – October 26, 1752) was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk in the sessions of October 1711, October 1714, May 1720, October 1723, October 1725, October 1726, October 1727, October 1728, October 1729, and October 1730. He was the son of Christopher Comstock and Hannah Platt.

John Lawrence, occasionally spelled as 'Lawrence' or 'Laurence', (1750 – November 11, 1810) was a delegate to the 6th, 7th, and 8th Congresses of the Confederation. He served as a representative and senator for New York, as well as a district judge for the United States District Court for the District of New York. In December 1798, Laurance held the position of President pro tempore of the United States Senate for a brief period.

Following the onset of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, the Continental Congress commenced the issuance of paper currency referred to as Continental currency, or Continentals. This currency was denominated in dollars ranging from $1 to $80, with various unusual denominations in between. Throughout the course of the Revolution, Congress issued a total of $241,552,780 in Continental currency.

The value of the Continental Currency dollar was determined in relation to the currencies of the states at the following rates:

• 5 shillings in Georgia
• 6 shillings in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Virginia
• 7.5 shillings in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
• 8 shillings in New York and North Carolina
• 32.5 shillings in South Carolina.

Unfortunately, the value of Continental currency significantly declined during the war, leading to the well-known expression 'not worth a continental.' A major issue was the lack of coordinated monetary policy between Congress and the states, which continued to issue their own bills of credit. Financial historian Robert E. Wright notes, 'Some believe that the rebel bills depreciated due to a loss of public confidence or because they lacked backing by tangible assets. However, the reality was that there were simply too many of them.' Both Congress and the states were unable or unwilling to withdraw these bills from circulation through taxation or bond sales.

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