Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1875-07-24
" COINED MONEY"

The st. Louis Globe Democrat has the
following we'll written article under the
above caption:
A coin, had it voice, could relate a
stranger story than any other article
which the imagination could dignity
with speech. Passing indiscriminately
from hand to hand, it is now the price
Of bread, now of poison; to-day the re-
lever of want, tomorrow fleeing into
the street from the jeweled hand of
luxury; now the winner at the board,
| now the last stake of the suicide; in
the morning the price of flowers to
deck the brow of innocence, in the ev-
ening the reward of shame. A weird
history it has, before tho relation of
which, could it be truly told, the wild
est dreams of romance would become
like history
The first historical account we have
of money, is the purchase of n grave
yard by Abraham for the burial of his
wife Sarah, but leaving out this instance,
which may readily be q mistake, coined
money or even metal rs means of ex-
| change was not mentioned for many
centuries after, and cattle or househol
furniture was the media of the little
business that was done. After gold
and silver came to be recognized as con-
yenient circulating symbols of acknowl-
| edged value, they were first used in
spikes and bars, and not till 900 B. G.
was any coinage whatever attempted.
The first, among the Greeks. was of
gold, and was soon followed by an issue
OF silver, $40 B. c. The first coin
among the Romans was O. copper,
and weighed about five pounds. The
devices on these early coins were en-
blematic; tortoises, doves, owls, cattle,
were all frequent, but were soon SUBJ
stituted by heads of gods and GOODIES.
ses, which, il turn, gave way, aftev
some hundreds of years, to vignettes of
emperors and kings. OF all ancient
coins, those of Alexander the Great are
the cheapest and the most readily found.
1t is no uncommon thing for peasant
in Eastern lands to turn up an urn or
vase filed with gold coins of the Alex
andrian era. The history of gold coin
gradually merges into that of the Ital-
ian, and of Grecian into Turkish coins
and medals. Ring money was very
common in the more ancient times.
The precious metals were moulded into
rings large enough to wear on the fn-
gers, wrists and ankles, and this for q
time constituted the sole currency Of
many nations.
The coins of the present European
nations are mostly gold, silver and cop
per; q very few using combinations of
other metals. Coined metal appears to
have been unknown in England prior
to the conquest by Caesar, who intro
duced it, with Roman manners and Ian
guage In Russia the state coinage
was formerly of every shape, square,
oblong, round, octagonal, and variety
of others. The older coins of Euro
pean times are noted for their curious
stamps, being battle and naval scenes,
country landscapes, and, on an old coin
of Spain, two men riding across river
on one horse, the terror of the holder
on being plainly marked by his coun-
tenance.
On the settlement of New England by
the Puritans, they found the need Of q
currency, and for while adopted the
wampum of the Indians, but this having
no intrinsic value, was soon displaced
by the g Somers Island Pine," a penny
bearing no date. In 1852 the New
Englanders themselves began to coin
money, and the first attempt was coin
called one shilling sixpence. The an.
mails of TINT time note that the Pilgrim
Fathers were fond Of clipping the edges
of coins, and that this issue was partic.
ularly favorable for their purpose. Soon
it was substituted by the Pine Tree
coinage, which was in shillings, six
pences, threepences and twopenees
The scrub oak shilling soon followed
while the noted John Hull was master
! OF the mint. He received, for his
trouble and expense, one shilling in ev
cry twenty that were coined, ant
amassed. for those times, vast wealth
J II is related that when his dnughte
} was married he gave her her weight il
shillings, she being placed in one scale
on her wedding day. and the money II