The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1866-10-10
A Short Chapter about Money,

1t arose in tho degree of desire by which
ono thing was more wanted thsn another.
The most desired commodity was taken sin
exchange. Barth, in Nceriia. was a whole
dny exchanging TO get at some particular
article. lie found narrow strips OF co,isn to
be money. In South Af";ca l;:mccs arc ;is
medium Of exchange. They have one ad-
vantngc--thcy may be kept Without spilipg
That is n requisite. We all want ice in
a medium of exchange. Clappcrton speaks
Of blocks of salt used for money in tho inte
rior of Africa: Prescott The historian. Of
cocoon beans in Mexico. This money first
suggests itself and grows naturally out of
the state of things. Pcopls don't come to-
gcthcr and say, let us adopt money 1t
comes unto us. 1t is also not merely nm
oxchaugcablo thing, hut it is used 20 value
ether commodities. II is not measure of
value, tnkcn in the abstract sense, for there
arc two things to be valued, the money and
what ii buys. We notice the motive of
acquiring.i,, oftoner vanity than utility,
though the latter is not excluded Barbar-
Gus people seek ornaments, but commonly
of some lasting material, as tle metals For
centuries money was weighed. The Jews,
who had no coin, always weighed it. This
survives in the names OF pounds, ounces,
livre, nina, MI derived from weight Tho
first coined money was private money.
Bcchtlcr, Gcrn,n, for n time carried on
private coinage in Ruth afford county,
North Carolina. Ills coins were stamped
with his name and tho denominations they
circulated freely in Georgia, North CARROLL
ma, and South Carolina, and Tennessee.
In addition to these facts, stated by Dr..
licber, wc may mention mn incident which
came under our observation:
nhn,, r,1,,, I.
Philadelphia the sum Of $1,000, in Dcch-
tiers coinage; it produced between one and
two dollars premium on the whole amount,
showing tho accuracy Of he assay and
valuation. Bechticr on his death, was
succeeded by his son. Tho establishment
of the mint at Charlotte superseded these
works. The business was conducted by the
Bechtlers, from The beginning to the end,
with the entire confidence Of the commni-
ty.
Coinage was nee 'ssiy from tho difficulty
ofwoighing and assaying metals Money. 4
common coin, was developed during the
formative period of naturalization, in the
Middle Ages, when the languages arose, and
after literature, tho law. It is never so
difficult to convince people in matters Of
law. politics, or theology, rs it is to change
their habits. This problem was in reforms
Of currency. to change the money in the
minds Of market women. Fifty years after
the change by tho revolution in France, it
needed an cdct of Louis Philippe to enforce
It. Even III our own country, with our coz
rcnicnt dollars and cents, arc we not still,
in the different States, thinking inconveni-
emily in shillirgs and pence. Just so with
the uso Of thermometers People would 10
DC cold in Ccnlrigrade, or perspire by
Rcaunur they would freeze and thaw only
by their accustomed Fnlrcnhcit. Still the
tendency TO uniformity went on, just as with
dress, which had drawn the habits of mod.
crn nations to resemblance, while q Spar
TIM goes to Athens was known ut once by
the difference OF his garb, and nobody, now
a-dnys, can distinguish gentleman from
ST Petersburg in that way, and thus society
would 60 ON till the work of differentiation,
if tho word can be cmowcd, Shall be complct.
ed,-7He Century,