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How Timothy Dexter Turned Ridiculous Ventures Into Riches

Khalid Elhassan November 22, 2024 13 min

Dexter - Timothy Dexter — Timothy Dexter. New England Legends

16. An “Idiot” and a “Fool”?

A $3 Continental bill. Museum of the American Revolution

Timothy Dexter toiled for years, and built up a nest egg of thousands of dollars in savings – a respectable amount back then. His first major break towards financial independence, and it is unclear whether it was a shrewd investment or just dumb luck, came at the end of the American Revolution. He spent his life savings to buy a lot of depreciated Continental currency, both federal and state, which was worthless at the time. Everybody thought he was an idiot and a fool.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.