Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-02-07
PECULIAR MONEY.
THESUBSTlTUTEs FOR OXNCUIc.
RENT IN SOME COUNTRIES.
Animals as a Medium of Exchange
Egytinns the First to Use Metal
EARLY Coinage In Amer
lea - Ideal Cash.

i"''"ne sun use pcttS LOT currency; Skins
OF wild animals were so used by the an
clent Russians, and in the carly days of
settlement in Illinois raccoon and deer
skins passed rs money.
After the hunting age came. the pas
toral, and then the animals themselves
took the place of money. Sheep and
oxen were principally employed, their
relative value by the old Romans being
set mt ten sheep for ono OK, II standard
that still obtains among the Indian raccs.
The lcclandic and Irish laws yet bear
traces Of the Use of cattle for money;
many reutonic fines were pnid in cattle,
and oxen forms the circulating medium
among the Iulus and Kailirs in this year
oI grace. i.'
y direct link between this practice and
The metal coins for money is found in tho
fact TINT the earliest Roman money was
first shapeless pieces of bronze Clipped
OIL from lump, these being followed by
Jumps OF regulated weight, on which
were stamped the image of IN OK or
sheep.
The Romans, however, were by no
means the first to usc metal for money.
The Egyptians used both gold and silver
ms lar back rs the tlnys of Abraham, but
1t was counted by weight, and not by
face value, and it WAS the ingenious man
who conceived the happy ,lca of stamp
ing these pieces to show their value who
was the first concr
Numismatics, rs II rule, 20 no further
back than the use Of stamped pieces of
metal by the l.ibynns and Greeks Mt u
date varying from 900 To 100 years b. C.
Before the introduction Of coined money
into Greece, showers or spikes of iron
and copper were II currency, six being n
drach,n OF handful. Iron spikes are still
employed in the same way in certain parts
OF Central Africa, and according to Adam
Smith, 1t is not 30 very lnnG ago Tint
nails were used as II subsidiary coin in
Scotland. Hence, perhaps, the term
"tcnpcnny nail'-i. a., ten for II penny.
The Hebrews, in addition to shckcls,
talent: and drachms Of silver, had
Jewel money The Egyptians im-
proved on their metal Jumps by introduce
ing gold and silver rings.
The earliest coinage for Amcricn WINS
that made in 1912 for the Virginia com.
pany, ut the Somcrs Islands, now called
Bcrnudns. The coin was Of brass with
the legend "Sommcr island" and n
"hoggc on one side, in memory of the
abundance OF hoggcs which were found
on their first lnnding.' This was tho
famous "hog money"
The earliest colonial coinage WAS In
Massachusetts, in 1852, II 'mint howsc"
being established ut Boston, and the
''luoincs" being shilling, sixpcncc and
ihrcc-pcnny piece. Before this the cur.
lcncy OF the cOlonstS was II very mixed
one. Mustct balls passed for change nj
n tarihing apiece, aud were legal ten.
der for sums under shilling. Tobacco
and tobacco receipts were legal tender;
corn and beans and goldfish were also
employed. >.
Wampum, however, was the common
est currency of all. II was the shell
bead money of the Italians, and was soon
accepted hy tlic colonists rs II convenient
token. There were two kinds of WAN. u
pnm-wampmmcag, which was white and&
made from he conch or pcriwinklc; uptdE
suckanhock, which was dirk purp 20 nutiS
mace from the hnr,l-shcll clam. THO
purplc WAS worth twice as 'Ilich ms the
white. The shcli was broken in pieces,
rubbed smooth ON stone till about the
thickness OF pipc-sIcm, then pisrccd
with drill and strung into necklaces,
bracelets, and belts. The English, French
and Dutch settlers all used wampum, tho
value being fixed in 1910 Mt six beads for
II penny. The strings were called
fathoms, and varied in value from five To
ten shllings.
Shell money has played quite mn i'm
portnnt part in the worlds commerce.
The small, hard shell known M the
cowry is still used in India, the Indian
islands, and Africa, in the place of sub
sidinry coin. In 1851 more than 1000
tons of these shells were brought from
lirlia TO Liverpool to be exported to the
coast of Africa in exchange for palm oil.
In Bengal they are worth 5000 to the
rupee or about seventy to the cent.
The list OF what may be curious money
is II long one. Among some of the nntive
Australians greensboro Gadc) and red
ochrc form the currency. IN the retired
districts of New Guinea female slaves
form the standard Of value. Norway
even now uses corn for coin. Whales
teeth nrc used by the Fiiians, rcd fcath-
crs by some Of the South Sen islanders,
and salt in Abyssinia. In India cakes of
ten pass as currency, and in China pieces
of silk. Tin, indeed, to-day forms the
STANDARD of value at the great fairs of
Nishni Novgorod, in Russia. In tho
British West Indies pins, slice of bread,
a pinch Of snuff, or dram of whisky
have all purchasing power, while on
the African coast axes are the accepted
currency.
The strangcst coin OF all, though, is
the ideal money spoken of by Monies
quieu rs being found in certain parts of
Africa. It is an ideal money called
"macontc," but is purely sign of value
without unit-!San Francisco Chronicle.
Mothers Strangely Equipped.