CURIOSITIES OF AMEBIC AN COINAGE. 



595 



■^.'.'or: 



$2.50 gold piece. GeorLciu guld ; 

 22 carats, 64 grains. Beclitler. 



the history of civilization, of certain substances which, by common 

 consent, were received by all persons in exchange for all commodities 

 at certain rates by mutual agreement. A curious variety of materials 



have, at different times and in different 

 countries, served this useful purpose, and 

 it is evident that such substances would 

 soon come to possess the two great func- 

 tions of money, viz. : 



1. A common medium of exchange. 



2. A common measure of value. 



In the most primitive age the skins of wild animals were usually 

 selected, being both useful and portable. Even in the early part of 

 this century the business of the Hudson Bay Trading Company was 

 transacted with the North American Indians entirely on this basis; 

 a gun, for example, Avas valued at " twenty beaver skins." In 

 Massachusetts (and other colonies) prior to the Revolution specie was 

 at times so scarce that laws were passed legalizing the payment of 

 taxes in skins, cattle, and farm products. 



It is said that in the mountainous districts of Kentucky skins 

 are used even to this day as currency to a limited extent by the 

 natives. 



In Massachusetts a law was enacted, March 4, 1634, as follows: 

 " It is likewise ordered that muskett bulletts, of a full boare, shall 

 pass currantly for a farthing a-piece, provided that noe man be com- 

 pelled to take above XII pence att a tyme in them." 



Early Colonial Coinage. — The inconvenience experienced 

 from the want of specie caused the colony of Massachusetts to estab- 

 lish a mint as long ago as the year 1652; this was exactly one hun- 

 dred and forty years before the 

 establishment of the IN^ational 

 Mint in Philadelphia. The 

 Massachusetts law provided for 

 the coinage of " shillings," " 6 

 pence," and " 3 pence," all 

 of sterling silver — that is, 925 

 parts of pure silver and 75 parts 

 of copper; the law stipulated 

 that the coins were " to be reduced in weight 2 pence in the shilling 

 less than the English coin." A curious mistake occurred in the 

 calculation whereby these shillings were made 5|^ grains too light, 

 but they served a good purpose notwithstanding. The device upon 

 the coins is a " pine tree," and the Massachusetts pine-tree shillings 

 are now so rare that they are only to be found in cabinets of coins. 



The British Government opposed the establishment of this mint. 



$5 gold piece. Georgia gold ; 22 carats, 

 128 grains. C. Bechtler. 



