First Post here, be kind.

I've been reading Zinn's 'A peoples history...' and he discusses in depth the economies of the North American Colonies but doesn't address specifically how the currency system worked. Did the colonies just use the home countries currency? Surely this would put them at an extreme disadvantage in terms of trade and valuing thier goods. Or was there local currencies in place that got unified as the American Dollar?

Anyone able to shed some light on this? There seems to be plenty of history of the dollar after 1776 but not much before.

Sources or additional text recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks.