On December 10, 1690, a failed attack on Quebec and subsequent near-mutiny force the Massachusetts Bay Colony to issue the first paper currency in the history of the Western Hemisphere. With a shortage of coins and nothing else to pay the troops with, Governor William Phips of Britain’s Massachusetts Bay Colony faced a potential mutiny. With no other option, the General Court of Massachusetts ordered the printing of a limited amount of governmentbacked, paper currency to pay the soldiers. —Â...