Born in Philadelphia. Elias Boudinot was the fourth in line of descent with that name. He married Hannah Stockton on April 21, 1762. They had a daughter. Hannah was a sister of Richard Stockton, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Boudinot's sister Annis married Richard Stockton. Boudinot studied law in the office of Richard Stockton. He was admitted to the bar in 1760 and practiced law in Elizabethtown, New Jersey.

He served as a member of the New Jersey Provincial Congress in 1775; member of the Committee of Safety in 1775. During the Revolutionary War Congress appointed him commissary-general of prisoners on June 6, 1777. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777, 1778 and 1781 to 1784. He was elected President of the Continental Congress and served November 4, 1782, to November 2, 1783. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first three sessions March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1795. In October 1795 he was appointed Director of the Mint succeeding deSaussure. He resigned July 1, 1805, to devote his life to Bible study. He helped create the American Bible Society in 1816 and became its first president. He died in Burlington, New Jersey.

Boudinot appears on several issues of paper money:

$2 1858 Merchants Bank, New Bedford, MA

$2 1858 Delaware City Bank, Delaware City, KS

$2 1859 Safety Fund Bank, Boston, Massachusetts

$2 1861 Bank of Penn Township, Philadelphia, PA

$2 1861 What Cheer Bank, Providence, RI

$5 1863 Belvidere Bank, Belvidere, New Jersey

$20 1832 Bank of Darien, Georgia

$20 1857 Augusta, GA, Insurance & Banking Co.

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