New-York tribune., 1867-08-02

o especially give the observer an carrsnyOf all
one item Of inquiry the Supposed dates Of some Of the
TIL, collection a.cerds nigh into antiquity ssry other we
mention three pieces dating quite back % the Onnof the practice
.1sI s1 eos EsSa sPd generally s'Tsd 4,
having been coined centuries before The CHRISTIAN era W. s
ours 1850 Old The sdrsehm Of Asheus farther down. per-
The golden ac ofPes by Darius but which Ofhas
name uncertain Its Is doubtless 1850 years A.
republic about the ssne s. as the daI' s.,,.
Generally scope years be alOwed but in some cases the
The question Eow %any 1sre counting the different DIES Of
Aneriesn public CONS rpTGS4by ean9o be answered
The :a has been faithfully largely written and yst
ground Of sdnS to the number entirely unable give an
swer on this point Respectfully yours &c. H. X LIs1Shs4 o Min.
American moneycoins must have numbered nearly 1000
The earliest brass penny struck In the Bermudas
In 1912 for the Virginia colony In William and Marys
reign copper pennies made In London Tor our
and Southern settlements, bore the mottos Goa pre-
servo New Englandp "God preserve Carolina and the
Lords Proprletorsp Massachusetts, authorized silver
coinage In 1862; and other colonies soon after.
In 1885, Congress adopted present system from the
$40 piece down. 1t originated with Thomas Jefferson
that many sided man-born OF arstOcracy, yet an incar
nate DemOcra-reared In the Wilderness yet graced with
every observation-disclosures alike in natural
science farming music, architecture, and government
designing the Capitol OF his native State adding half our
present territory TO the Union and leaving for his monu
ment the proud record Founder of the University OF
Virginia. author Of the Statute of Religious Freedom
and the Declaration Of independence"
"Mln" was from the Latin pae-one.thousandth OF
dollar; scent" from centta- hundredth; "dime"
dormcrly written disme from decen-onetenth; "do
lar" from the German ddhler or thaler and "eagle"
from chosen bird We selected American species
but the eagle had already figured In old mythologies
Roman, Greek, Hindoo and Scandinavian, and on many
a martial standard from the Etruscans TO the Poles
Franklin always eayed at IL National emblem, on
ttlgaf
by prcyng upon the defenseless The fathers long de-
bated whether 10 adopt the eagle the ratesnake In
favor Of the latter they pausby urged that he never
attacks until moested and strikes without giving
his enemy fair warming Upon early devices ne occupies
the place Of honor sometimes with the significant in
scription: "Don't tread on mew A Continental note
even represents him giving the deathtroke to an at
tacking eagle Modern day the picture Now the
official seals Of Mexico and NewMexco both exhibit the
dshonored reptile the clutches Of the victorious bird
Our first Federal coinone cent, struck in New Haven
bore the Wholesome rjunction "Mind your own busi-
ness" There legend, "interestng II true, that when
Washington lis face upon the earliest silver dollar
he peempory ordered the dies TO be destroyed Cents
and half dollars of 1912 still bear his profile. The first
head OF Liberty coin bore the features OF Martha
Washington.
Bank we get from banco, bench because In italian
towns, Jewish money eylenders, In the yellow Donnets
which law compelled them 10 used to drive their
hard bargains upon long wooden seats in the market
places The Bank Of Venice, the first In Europe was es
tabshed in Ill., to aid Governments raising funds for
the Crusades II n monetary Methuseah, and -four
ished than years It's earliest payingener
perhaps counted out shining forms TO Richard the Lion
Hearted It's latest may have cashed draft for John
Quincy Adams There segnolr Antonio must have kept
his account aud the banks refusal 10 discount his little
notothe bagatele Of 5000 ducats for 90 days-i'
shrouded ia mystery Possibly shylock and old Tubal
that wealthy Hebrew Of is tribe. had been fomentng
panic about him Shakespeare that the merchant
was good but then the poet was DO moneylender In
Hamlet he even offers TO advance thousand pounds TO
the ghost without an ind0rscr security unknown to
wal-st, and doubtless to the Ralto.
At last the Bank Of Venice hy FELL with the hundred
ised city II was overhrown when that gorgeous Queen
the Adratc yielded her to the revolutionary
armies Of France. The Bank OF England founded
during French IN Goi TO aid William and Mary, Who
had been uaying per cent year for loans Both
old United states Banksike present National sys-
tem-were also born Of disorders which war had produced
In Government finances
II required cart and yoke OF 10 haul 500 Of tho
iron money of Lycurgus. Now the boyh messenger Of
National Bank skips down Broadway with million OF
currency In his little sack And Samuel Rogers banker
and poet had note for million pounds sterling framed
and hung his paror Why he not sing the Pleasures
OF Possession rather than the Pleasures Of MemoryP
In the Congressional Library Is rare old scrapbook
rency They number AGO. though few OF the early issues
are there and none come down to the adoption OF the
Constitution A full collection until now would probably
reach 900 notes public and private The earliest sim
ply bears the words: Penny Massachusetts,. June,
IT22" 1t has signature and It's execution would not
serve for the label OF match box. Then follow issues
OF the other colonies NewJersey notes, authorized In
1928 were engraved by Benjamin Franklin, then
ourneyman printer OF ~. He also fashioned hand
press for striking them OFF That runaway Boston ap-
prcntice-that eatheraproned Philadelphia edtor-me-
ohanic and dplonat-ester and staesman-trader, IN
ventOr patriot, philosopher neutrality-suspicious. his
is written all our colonial and revolutionary
historyl
Tho rude devices Of that represent shaly crowns
ships building upon stocks infrm Of purpose; white men
aud Indians cheated OF feature by assembling engayer,
sent into this printing world scarce half made mp In 6
the name OF Ills Gracious Majesty King George the
Third" suddenly disappears, aLd pounds and shlings
change o. dollars and cents Georgia note promises TO
pay SO within IL months, out OF moneys arising from
tho sale OF forfeited estates" Does that connsca
toni
Continental bills bear sundry intmatIons that the
Mother Country wages ashopeess war: wild boar rum
ming at the point Of spear; hand graspng brambes
and the like some ingenously printed in eoors
few are counterfcits, and altered. Dngy old notes,
creased, mutlated. soed, they are sn "hlthy but no
longer "lucre" Bits OF worthless paper now
Yet men scheed and toed and wore out lives and com
mited crimes 10 get them And others endured, and
suffered and died for want Of them
Similar reflections will move the ngprophesied New
Zealand archmologist All day shall he stand on the
never finished Washington Monument 70 sketch the ruins
OF WIZARDS Hoel. But at night, by his campfire on
Pennsylvania.ave. he will with sentimental eye his
great scrap book Of paper currency. Remembering
the gorgeous OF the fifteenth Ma
tional Bank OF Auckland that line his pocket book, be
win wonder at the rude art which stamped the heads OF
Chase and Fessendon MCulloch and Spinner on these
plain tatered antique bills and bonds OF the year OF
grace 1867 And getting homo from his explorations
he WILL rush 10 the library Of the Antiquarian
Society and hunt the we'll thumbed files Of THE TMBUSE