A bill of credit to Erza Bowman for 20 Pounds decorated with the Massachusetts "Sacred Cod" and a likeness of King Philip, also known as Metacomet.

Unlike typical bills of credit which were usually fiat money that could not be exchanged for gold or silver coins upon demand, this bill specifies that it can been exchanged for "lawful money, in Spanish Mill'd Dollars ..., or in the Several Species [coins] of coined Silver and Gold ...".

Cash in the colonies was denominated in pounds, shillings, and pence. However, coins [hard currency in gold and silver] in circulation in the colonies were most often of Spanish and Portuguese origin. The prevalence of the Spanish dollar in the colonies led to the money of the United States being denominated in dollars rather than pounds when in 1792 Congress passed the Mint Act creating the United States Mint and establishing the dollar as the country's standard unit of money.

Paul Revere, July 21, 1775,
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, 2/20/20