Haym Salomon (or Hayim Solomon) was born in 1740 in Leszno/Lissia, Poland. His father was a Rabbi in Poland, who originally came from Portugal.
Traveling Europe in the 1760s and early 1770s, Haym learned finance, business, and several languages.
He came to New York City about late 1772. In NYC, Haym was a merchant and also had a brokerage firm and commission merchant's company.
He also became a member of the 'Liberty Boys' and 'Sons of Liberty'. He arranged for arms to be shipped into the colonies from the Dutch island of St. Eustatius, and caused a lot of trouble for the British.
Haym had been imprisoned by the British while in NYC (at the "Old Sugar House", a warehouse) as a spy in 1776 where he later suffered from tuberculosis. Haym was pardoned and used to translate German with the German soldiers for the British. He also helped American prisoners escape from the British and encouraged hundreds of German soldiers to leave the British service.