io6 The Story of The Bronx 



of porcelain beads, which, however, did not deceive the 

 Indians. This sort of currency soon depreciated; and, though 

 the authorities enacted laws fixing its value from time to time, 

 it soon became worthless — the fate of all fiat money. Beaver 

 skins had an intrinsic value, and they became the basis of all 

 the larger transactions, being rated in 1658 as high as sixteen 

 guilders. 



With the advent of the English, a change came in the cur- 

 rency, and more silver was introduced, though not necessarily 

 of British mintage. Until long after the Revolution, all sorts 

 of gold and silver coins were in circulation: English, Spanish, 

 French, Dutch, Portuguese; joes, half-joes, pieces of eight, 

 pistoles, guilders, shillings, guineas, pistareens, milled dollars, 

 and many others. During the colonial period, in all the colo- 

 nies, various makeshifts were resorted to in order to provide 

 a currency: in Newfoundland, dried codfish was used for the 

 purpose. All the colonies issued paper currency, and New 

 York was no exception. We often come across in colonial 

 papers and documents the expression, "New York currency," 

 or "current funds of New York" (see Rev. Samuel Seabury's 

 advertisement on page 101). This paper, issued by the au- 

 thority of the provincial assemblies had no intrinsic value, and 

 was always depreciated. Its value fluctuated so that it is 

 impossible to give its relative worth with good money. The 

 Reverend John Bartow, writing on July 13, 1724, in answer 

 to the question of the Bishop of London in regard to his salary 

 says: "The value of my living is £50, sterling, of New York 

 money; which is about £32, 10 sterling, paid not without much 

 difficulty and loss." There were no banks, and people kept 

 their money in their houses. In the houses of the rich, large 

 sums, sometimes running into thousands of pounds sterling, 

 were kept in the great, heavy oak chests whose great strips 



