What currency was used in the US before the dollar?

Answer 1

The dollar was the first real currency in the U.S.

Before that, trading was used.

CORRECTION

The dollar was the first official currency in the US. During the Revolution the Continental Congress issued some coins as well as paper money called "Continental dollars" but these had little buying power and fell out of use. Before the Revolution, the colonists made do with a combination of whatever British and Spanish currency had been brought in, as well as bartering as noted.

One of the most common coins was the Spanish eight-realcoin, or peso de ocho. It was so widely used that its size and composition were the basis for the American dollar. In fact, even though the new US currency system was supposed to be divided into fractions of 10, the Mint decided to make quarter-dollars instead of 20¢ pieces in order to maintain compatibility with those Spanish coins that were subdivided into eighths instead of tenths.

Answer 2

There was no single monetary unit, all the countries that have adopted the Euro had their own local currency - France the 'frank', Germany the 'Deutsche Mark' etc.