White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1857-06-18
The ORIGIN Of Paper Money.


The invention of paper money is much mort
ancient than the establishment of the sarIies
Banks The Bank Of St. George, of Genoa, the
most ancient we know, was founded in l4O7
but before the thirteenth century, Koblat, grand
son of Genghis Khan, the Tartar conquerer, in,
troduced Paper Money into China, and his ex.
example was at once followed by his cousin, Kai.
COTTON, the Sultan of Persia; both we're obliged
to abolish ii on account Of the great diseOras il
produced in their ex.en,re doniaions.
Since this epoch, The chinese &c enil.lens la.
again established Paper Mono and in Russia
they can now show Chinese assigsLt
In Turkey, also. the collectors of certain tax
es deliver receipts to those who pay them, and
these papers have the currency of money.
Its not pretended that Paper Money was FIST
invented by the Mongols; on the contrary, its
invention was everywhere as easy as its use was
obvious, and particularly attractive FOR all gov
ernments, for its temporary advantage in crisis
of difficulty.
The idea of substituting a token or pEonisso-
ry obligation, for present intrinsic value, could
occur even to a simple. or barbarOus people, of
which there are many examples.
Aristotle, in his Economics tells US, that Den
mis-, the Tyrans of Syracuse, coined money of
tin, which he declared to be legal, and equivu-
lent to silver.
Timothsus, the General of the Athenians, in
a moment of difficulty, coined brass money. as
suriRg his murmuring soldiers that he would re.
ceive it, in the purchase of the spoils he was to
make. We have heard much of the leather
money used BY the carthagenians.
It is true, none of It was Paper Money, but
they resemble it, as merely tokens of confidence;
the l. 0.U.
We read also of the iron money of ByEanti-
un, and, of some of the ancient cities Of Greece.
In England, copper money is emily token or
sign, current for nearly double its value in metal.
In Russia, skins and furs have been used for
money, but their inconVenient bulk gave rise in
early time, to an ingenious representation of
these natural coins, which was small pieces Of
leather stamped. which were used as money, to
be iquidated by furs and skins, as oppressed
The leather coin was used in some parts as the
silver cOpeck, down to the year 100.
Among the simple HindOos, whose wants are
few, and the produce of the earth acquired with
little labor, gold and silver, or even copper or
iron, are of no great value in comparison; and
their small money is cowry shells, collected on
the shores Of Ceylon aAd of the Maldive Islands;
these shells have been the current money Of the
Mongols, Of Bengal, and Botan, as well "a of
Guinea. On the discovery of America, grains
of Cocoa served for money. In Abyssinia, their
merchandise are valued by salt and pepper; on
the island of Newfoundland by Goldfish; in Ice
land By a sort of WOOL; pieces of nankeen serve
for the money Of comparison, in the exchange
between the Chinese and the Russians, at Hi
aktu; among the Greeks of the Lower Empire,
pieces of silk performed this function; in ancien:
Chronicles, gold, silver, and silk, are mentioned
equally as money.
The basis of the currency of the Chinese and
the Russians seem to be more curious and sub.
stantial than any other. The small coins Of the
Chinese appear to cost more in the labor of the
fabrication, than any are worth in their curren-
ey; they cannot, therefore, be forged, and the
material is mixed metal worth less in the cru
chile, or for e1pOrtatiOn than in its use as coin
In Russia, the abundant base Of their curen-
cy is copper, whose value in coins is less than in
as a metal; this is an unusual condi-
ton, but happy one as far as it extends.
As riches and circulstions increased With civ
ilization and confidence, and, after tie discove-
~ of America, and the working in its mines,
gold and silver took with advantage the place
Of all those expedients; one step further has
been taken en- the basis Of credit in the use of
Paper Money.
Metallic money, in is value, its quantity, its !
facility and rapidity Of crsulation-in its trans
port and presence, can no longer be suitable or
equal to the szigeneies Of our trade and eSchan-
ges; paper has become Indispensable evsrywhere |
n foreign commerce, and as useful as necessa-
y in this great internal trade Of an improved,
lctiye and productive country.