Iron County register., 1886-05-27
QUEER MONEY,
venerable Paper Currency and Mormon
Gold Pieces in the National Museum.

. S@-n su0iNEIs
| Venerable Paper Currency and Mormon
Gold Pieces in the National Museum.
| Among the curiosities in the National
Museum at Washington is the collection
of obsolete paper money. A writer de-
scribes some of the more striking of
these interesting specimens of antique
currency, beginning with what is known
as Shepherds money, which is still in
some parts OF Mexico. The money in
question consisted of two bits of paper
about the size of a fifty-cent shinplaster.
| The notes are printed on white paper,
in black, without any attempt at orna-
| ment or any of the usual devices to
battle counterfeiters. The notes are
dated at Hacienda de San Miguel. Bato-
plias, and the text upon them is in
Spanish. One note is for twenty-five
and the other for fifty cents. In the
lower corner is printed the name Alex
| ander K. Shepherd, well known in this
city. A card near the notes informs the
| curious people who stop to look at them
that such notes are in general circula-
ton in the Batopilas district and are
preferred by the people there to the pa
per money issued by the Mexican Gov
crnment. A very extensive collection
of coins and specimens of money has
been placed on exhibition in the
museum. A curious piece of money is
a bit of pasteboard, about the size of a
street-car ticket, and marked with a
pencil by the man that issued it. The
one exhibited is for three cents, and was
issued by a business house in Mexico.
This pasteboard money has been legal
lied by the State of Tanaulipas.
Among the coins is a five-dollar gold
piece coined by the Mormons at Salt
Lake City in 1s49. This piece was
presented to the museum by Mr.. Joseph
Libbey. of West Washington. 1t is or
namented with representation of a
mitre and an eye, and inscribed with
the words Holiness to the Lord
There are also specimens of Mormon
paper money issued as late as 1865.
Many of the small Mexican coins
shown are cut in two in the center. 1t
is the custom of the people in some
districts in Mexico, when they want
to make change to cut the coins. A
ten-cent piece will be cut in halves, and
each half will pass for five cents.
The collection is very rich in speci-
mems of colonial and continental money
or bills. There is one bill for forty
shillings issued under the authority of
'the assembly of Pennsylvania The
spelling did not affect the value of the
note The bif1s issued under the au-
thority of Congress during the revolu-
tionary war entitled the bearer to re-
ceive the amount of the bill in Span
ish milled dollars or the value thereof
in gold or silver" An old note for five
dollars, issued by the bank of Washing
ton January II, 1911, is among other
old relics shown. In another case is a
bond or note which reminds one of
the later attempts at financiering on the
part of champions of the Ir r'sh republic
1t is bond issued at New York, Janu-
airy l, 1852, for ten dollars. by Louis
Kossuth, payable ION demand one year
after the establishment in fact of the in
dependent Hungarian Government"
A curious thing, showing how English
accounts were kept or justified for
cent times, is a tally stick dis
stick which has been deeply notched.
The method of registering by tallies was
practiced by the English Court of Ex-
chequer from the time Of the Norman
conquest until 1888. 1t is the same sys-
tenn as that now practiced sometimes by
milkmen who keep account of their
credit sales by notching stick. In the
English system the sum paid to the bank
was marked on the side of willow or
hazel stick. The stick was notched by
the Cutter of Tallies, and inscribed in
Roman characters by the Writer of Tai
lies A small notch represented
penny, larger one a shilling, still
larger one a pound, a still large one
one hundred pounds, and so on. When
the stick was prepared it was split in
two by the Deputy Chamberlain. 1t
was split in such a way that the notches
appeared on both halves. One-half of
the stick was deposited in bank and the
other held by the person paying the
money as receipt. One was called
the tally, the other the COMMERCIALLY.
In 1884, after a new system of counts
was introduced. the tally sticks. which
had accumulated in great numbers, were
burned in the stoves of the House of
Lords The dry old sticks made an in
tense heat and set fire to the Parliament
buildings, which were completely de-
stroyed. The tally stick at the National
Museum is a gift from Mr.. A. M.
Franks of the British Museum. 1t reg
listers the payment of 91OO, 900 in part
principal on loan t140, 900 due Sep
tember 80, 1899, and paid November
%, 1776.- Washington Star.