Excerpt from the US Department of the Mint History Page
The Continental Bullion Coin, also known as the Carpenter Dollar, is widely considered to be the first national coin in American History. Minted in the 1760s and the 1770's it served as a hard currency for the Continental Army and Continental Congress during the nation's formative years. Many key agreements were struck with the coins during the revolution most notably being treaties with Native tribes. The coin was also used after the war to secure concessions from the Southern states on the topic of slavery as they were hit the hardest during the revolution and needed capital to rebuild their economy.
The dollar is unique as it was an early display of colonial unity with the tail side being 13 five-pointed stars showing unit of the colonies. This number was later increased during the revolution due to increases in states. On the head side, there was the snake from the Join or Die cartoon coiled around a pike showing unity and willingness to fight.
Once the federal government was created it took over the job of Minting currency and began issuing its gold, silver, and copper coins. Still, until the 1810s the government considered Continental Bullion to be valid due to the high-quality mint and the ridges along the sides and set its value equal to $5.
Now the Carpenter Dollar is considered a quality collectible with the original 13-star version being the most valuable fetching between ten and thirty thousand dollars depending on the quality.
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