The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1890-07-16
Peculiar Currency.

seks and Lydians.
1t may be Of interest to glance at some
of the early forms Of currency and at the
strange substitutes for money still in use
among barbarous people.
The earliest substitute for coin current
'ed BY man is believed to have been
the skins Of animals. This medium {
exchange was employed by the ancient
Russians and also by the first settlers Of
this country. Certain tribes Of the Alas
kan 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 q
circulating medium.
The animals principally employed were
sheep and oxen, their relative value be-
ing determined by the ancient Romans
at ten sheep for one OK, which standard
is still recognized among the Mongolian
tribes. Traces of this. custom are still
visible in the Irish and Icelandic laws.
Among the early TeutOnic races fines
were often paid in cattle, and the Zulus
and Kaffirs in this year Of grace make
use Of this old time medium.
A direct link between this practice and
the use Of metal coins for money is found
in the currency of the early Romans, who
used the pieces Of brass clipped off fiom
a mass.
Later, in the time of Seryius Tullus,
the brass was coined and marked with
the figure of an OK. An interesting little
bit of ety mological lore is connected with
this custom, for the Latin word for mon
ey, pecunia-whence our modern term
pecuniary-was derived from pecus,
cattle.
Metal money was used, however, long
before the time Of the Romans. As far
back as the time of Abraham the Egypt
ians 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 on the
earlier metal lump.
Before the introductinn Of coined mon
ey 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 Spartsns for many centuries
and Plutareh tells US that 10 great
quantity and weight of this but small
value was assigned, so that to lay up 10
mime a little over eSl) a whole room
was required, and to remove it nothing
less than yoke Of oxen.
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 nail"-i. e. ten for penny.
During the commercial supremacy Of
Carthage the common currency used by
her sailors, both in their trade 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 T, and bags Of
cocoa containing a specified number Of
grains.
blessed money :" exclaims the old an
nalist Peter Martyr, (which excepts the
possessor from avarice, since it cannot be
long boarded or hidden under ground
The earliest coinage in America wss
the famous "hog money" made in 1912
sor The Virginian Company, at the SOM
mer Islands, now the Bermudas. The
coin was of brass, with the legend "Som-
mer Island" and "hogge on one side, in
memory Of the abundance Of hOgges
which were found on their first landing"
The currency Of the early eolonists was
a very a.'xed one. At one time musket-
balls p4..ed for change at a farthing
apiece ana we're a legal tender for sums
under a shilling Tobacco and tobacco
receipts were also legal tender, and corn,
beans, Goldfish and peltries we're likewise
employed.
Wampum, the shell-bead money Of the
Indians, was the currency most in use,
however, being accepted by the coIonisfs
as a convenient token.
There were two kinds Of this she'll
mOney-"wsmpumeag," which vas white
and made from the conch or periwinkle,
and ''suckanhock,' which was dark pur-
purple and made from the hard she'll
clam.
The purple was worth twice as much
as the white. The shell was broken in
pieces, rubbed smooth on a stone until
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
tiers all used wampum, the value being
fixed in 1910 at six beads for a penny.
The strings were called fathoms, and
varied in value from to 10 shillings
Shell money has played quite an i'm
portant part in the worlds commerce.
The small, hard shell known as the
'eswry" is used to-day in India. the In
dian islands and Africa in place Of sub
sidiary coin.
The list of what may be termed curious
money is an extensive one. salt is used
in Abyssinia and whales teeth in the
Fiji islands.
In some of the South Sea islands red
feathers form the currency. Among the
native Australians green stone and red
ochre are used.
Female slaves form the standard Of
value in the retired districts Of New
| Guinea.
In the rural parts Of Norway corn is
used for coin. Pieces Of silk pass as cur
rency in China, and cakes of tea in
Thibet. At the great fairs Of Lower
Novgorod, in Russia, tin is the accepted
standard Of value. In the British West
Indies, pins, a slice Of bread, a pinch OF
snuff or dram Of whisky all have a pur-
chasing power, while on the African