23. Hortalez et Cie shipped far more than war materiel
When the American colonies went to war against the mother country in 1775, they lacked virtually everything necessary to prosecute it successfully. Only about one-third of the population actively supported the war, another third opposed it, with the rest neutral. The lack of a majority mandate severely weakened Congress, which further weakened itself through its own legislation. The most vital of all military supplies, money, was simply not available, and Congress tried to create it through the issuance of paper money. Paper money not backed by gold or silver was valueless. Hortalez et Cie tried to rectify the situation by shipping gold and silver to the Americans.
One of the greatest ironies of the entire operation was that Congress could not pay the company which in turn shipped gold to it, allowing it to pay for other necessities. Gold was purchased from the French and Spanish treasuries by Beaumarchais and his investors, and sent to America both directly and via the West Indies. Silver coin, mostly in the form of Spanish dollars, was also sent, and for the next two decades, the Spanish dollar was the most commonly found coin in circulation in the United States. It was known as the piece of eight, and often chopped into eight bits, with two bits equaling a quarter of a dollar.