Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1872-12-13
The Variety Of Coinage.

Though the whole world may be said
thus far to have been Gold-worshippers,
there are very few, who have not at
tempted the collections of coins, that
know the variety of form and appear
ance which these little objects of mems
idolatry have taken. In shape, coins
have generally been round and thin,
both for convenience of making and
handling. The exceptions to this were
more frequent in ancient than modern
lines yet there are now one or two
Bquare coins struck, both in Europe
Ind Asia. There are parallelograms
n Japan, and eight-sided pieces in As
Sam. We have, also, few octagonal
gold pieces of American coinage. In
striking the circular coin it is necessa-
~ that it should be held in ring or
collar, in order to preserve it's form.
Far want of some such precaution as
his, as also, perhaps, because they
we're not accurately cut, the more an
ient coins are rarely true circles, tho
This was evidently the form intended.
Of course no attempt would be made
within our limits to speak of the diff
erent devices on the coins of other ma
lions. Even in our own, first and last,
there has been much greater variety
than most persons would suppose. 1t
is not an uncommon impression that
our laws prohibit the coinage of money
by private individuals; yet they do not,
provided the coin is not made Gin re-
semblance or similitude" Of the gold
or silver coins issued from the Mint.
THE Constitution prohibits the States
from coming money, and vests the
power in Congress but under this pro-
Vision no law has ever forbidden the
Fitizens to do it, except imitation of
The national coins. So far as the cop
per coin is concerned, however, there
Is what is equivalent to this prohibi-
lion in the law, which forbids the Of
Fering, or even the receiving of any other
coin than the cent and half cent. In
ONE parts Of the country private gold
|oins have been struck and circulated.
these instances have occurred especi-
lily in the gold regions Of North Car
blina and Georgia. Some fifteen or
more private mines, also, are said to
have sent, forth their coinages in Cali
fornia.
Our National Mint has four branches:
bne at Charlotte, in North Carolina;
bne at Dahlonega, Georgia; one at New
Orleans, and one in San Francisco
#The coins at these several branches ex-
actly resemble those Of the principal
Mint at Philadelphia, except that they
<have upon them the letters &C." I'D"
CO." and IS" respectively, to distin-
guish them, while the coins of the Phi
ladelphia Mint have no initial letter.
Before the formation of the Federal
Constitution, each Colony claimed the
right to coin money, and many of them
had their issues. The earliest Colon
ial coin is said to have been made for
the Va. Company, in 1912. 1t was
of brass; and on the observe, or prin-
cipal side, the accounts of that day
tell us, was ga hogge," in memory Of
the abundance of ''hogges" found by
the colonists on their landing. On the
reverse side was ship under full sail !,
firing a gun. Probably not large
number of these brass coins were made.
At any rate, neither they nor the cur
rency obtained from other sources suf-
feed for the wants of the colonists, and
they were compelled to resort to some
other medium of exchange; and they
chose-Tobacco.
More than thirty years later (1645),
the Assembly of Virginia prefaced the
law which provided for new copper
coinage with the declaration that they
had ''maturely weighed and consider
ed how advantageous aquoine current
would be to their Colony, and the
great wants and naiseries a0bjch do dai-
;. y happen unto 1t by the sole DEEPEN.
tlency upon tobacco" The law passed
: but was never carried into effect; and
J the colonists were compelled to use to-
) bacco as money, and to submit to the
"miseries" reulting from it.