The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1890-07-24
MONEY In R DAYS.
SOME STRANGE SUBSTITUTES USED
FOE GOLD AND L FER COIN.

among mankind as a circulating medium.
Numismatics, as a rule, 90 no further
back than 800 or 900 years before the
Christian era to the stamped pieces of
metal circulated among the Greeks and
Lydians.
1t may be Of interest, saws Golden
forms of currency and at the strange
substitutes for money still in use among
barbarous people.
The earliest substitute for coin current
used by man is believed Il have been the
skins of animals. This medium of ex-
change was employed by the ancient
Russians, and also by the first settlers of
this country. Certain tribes of tie
Alaskan indians to-day use the pelts of
bears and foxes for currency.
The pastoral age succeeded the hunt
ing age, and men began to use animals
themselves instead of their skins for a
circulating medium.
The animals principally employed We're
sheep and oxen, their relative value be-
ing determined by the ancient Romans
at 10 sheep for l OK, which standard is
still recognized among the Mongol tribes.
Traces of this custom are still visible in
the Irish and Iceland laws.
Among the early Teutonic races fines
were often paid in cattle, and the Zulus
and Katfirs in this year of grace make
Use of this old time medium.
\ direct link between the practice and
the use of metal coins for moneys is
found in the currency of the early Ro-
mans, who used pieces Of brass clipped
of from a mass.
Later, in the time of Servius Julius,
the brass was coined and marked with
the figure Of an OK. An interesting lit
lie bit of chronological lore is connected
with this custom, for the Latin word for
money, observation-disclosures our modern
term pecuniary-was derived from pc
Gus" cattle.
Metal money was used, however, long
before the time of the Romans. AS far
backSs the days of Abraham the Egyp-
tians used gold and silver for currency.
1t was counted by weight, and not by
face value.
The Hebrews had Jewel money" in
addition to shekels and talents and
drachms of gold and silver. On the
Egyptian tombs gold is represented as
being weighed in rings for commercial
purposes, rather an Improvement, it may
Ue considered, on the earlier metal lump.
Before the introduction of coined
money into Greece, skewers or spikes Of
iron and copper constituted the currency,
six making a drachm or handful.
This iron money continued in use
among the Spartans for many centuries,
and Plutarch tells us that to a great
quantity and weight Of this but a small
value was assigned, SO that to lay up 10
mime "a little over $50 a whole room
was required, and to remove it nothing
less than a yoke of e
In certain parts Of central Africa iron
spikes are still used after the Spartan
fashion; and, according to Adam Smith,
It was not so long ago that nails were
used as a subsidiary coin in Scotland.
Hence, perhaps, we obtain the term ten
penny nall. e., ten for a penny.
During the commercial supremacy of
Carthage the common currency used by
1er merchants and sailors, both in their
5rade at home and with foreign nations,
was pieces Of leather stamped with the
arms of the powerful republic.
The currency of the Aztecs consisted
of transparent quilts of gold dust, Of bits
of tin cut in the form of a L, and of bags
Of cocoa containing "a specified number of
grains.
Blessed money" exclaims the old an
nalist. Peter Martyr, (which excerpts its
,,o,~oc... f.,., -or;a ri,oon iton, not no
long boarded or hidden under ground"
The earliest coinage in America was
the famous "hog money" made in 1912,
FOR the Virginia Company, at the SOM
mer Islands. now the Bermudas. The
coin was of brass, with the legend Som
mer Island, and a" hogge on one side, in
memory of the abundance OF hogges
which were found on their first land
ing"
The currency of the early c~Olonists was
n very mixed one. At one time musket
balls passed for change at a farthing
apiece. and were a legal tender for sums
under a shilling. Tobacco and tobacco
receipts were also legal tender, and corn,
beans, Goldfish, and peltries were likewise
employed.
Wampum, the shell bead money of the
Indians, was the currency most in use,
however, being accepted by the c~olonists
as a convenient token.
There were two kinds of this shell
money -~wampuneag." which wa
white. and made from the conch or peri
Wrinkle, and "suchanhock," which was
dark purple, and made from the hard
shell clam.
The purple was worth twice as much
rs the white. The shell vas broken in
pieces. rubbed smooth on a stone till
about the thickness Of a pipe stem, then
pierced with drill and strung into neck
laces, bracelets, and belts.
The English, French, and Dutch set
tlers all used wampum, the value being
fixed in 1910 at 6 beads for a penny. The
strings were called fathoms, and varied
in value from ) to 20 shillings.
Shell money has played quite an i'm
portant part in tie worlds commerce
Thesmall hard shell known as the ~cowry
islised to-day in India, the Indian islands,
and Africa in the place of Subsidiary
coin.
In 1881 more than 1000 tons of these
shells were brought from India 10 Llv-
TIL