Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-01-21


representing the development Of this medium
OF exchange incidental to the progress Of man.
kind. Whereas now among all civilized nations
such objects have invariably the shape of disks
stamped with values. IL is surprising to fnd
how many odd and even crotesaue forms
gold and silver. copper and bronze have been
wrought into during past ages for use as ready
cash.
KNIFE MONEY
Among the oddities of this kind possessed by
the museum are pieces Of the knife money"
which was circulated in China a. late as the
first century OF the Christian era. These coins
II such they may be called. are Of iron and have
somewhat the shape of raZors. being about six
inches long. Their peculiar form was derived
from an ancient custom which made knives
medium Of barter. They were worth cents.
IN the year 10 "a. d. the reigning emperor. who
had pretty taste for fnanciering ordered
large numbers OF them to be gilded fixing an
arbitrary value of so cents apiece on those
which were treated in Ibis wav. Unfortunately
the gliding soon wore of. which circumstance
inspired widespread dissatisfaction with the
improved currency, and on this account it
was abandoned. AT present humps of gold.
commonly In the shape of shoes. are employed
IN China TO represent large sums, being stamped
with their value by the government
GOLD oRNAMENrs
Other interesting specimens are pieces Of
''ring money" such as were worn as ornaments
anciently in Great Britain. as well as by the old
Gauls. Those barbarian. used 10 carry their
entire fortunes on their persons in the shane of
articles wrought out of gold and other metals
These objects were only incidentally for pur-
poses of adornment Their most important
use was to serve rs ready cash. and to this end
they were made of a standard weight and purity,
like modern coins. Often they were so con-
structed as to be readily divided into two or
more equal parts. In the year 100 a specimen
was dug up in Staffordshire. England, contain
ing three pounds and two ounces Of pure gold.
1t was four feet long and flexible that il could
be wrapped around the arm like a snake In
comparatively recent times il has been Gus
tomary for travellers journeying through
strange country to pay their way by detaching
one link after another of golden chain.
SALT AND TEA FOR CHANGE
The museum collections include all sorts of
curious things which have been used in lieu Of
coins or other money by different races of
people all over the world For example. in
Abyssinis, the country of Prince RasseIas bars
of salt are employed to this day for small
change. The salt Is dug out of the Sofia noun
tain and carried to the kings storehouse
where it is nodded into bricks for the purpose.
Tribes OF men who live far from the sea in
parts Of the earth where commerce is difficult
lied probably in barter with them. Tea,
pressed into bricks, is q common circulating
medium in Siberia, in parts of which the prices
OF all other commodities are absolutely regu-
lated by the price Of tea. In the central part
of South America, even at the present time
pins, soap and eggs are current as money
When Columbus landed the aboriginal Indians
were using for the same purpose disk-shaped
pieces cut out of human skulls the teeth of ALI
gators and the tusks and other bones OF the
extinct mastodon, as well as "wampum" made
from shells.
COINS FROM THE SEA.
Some Of the Indians who lived near the
ocean procured from the sea very beautiful
coins ready made. These were furnished by
marine animals called "crinoids," which re-
semble plants in the manner of their growth
Certain varieties OF crinoids are covered with
limy disks each of which bears a star with ravs
and these disks served admirably for money The
early settlers in America were SO at a loss for
cash that corn, peas and Goldfish were current
in New England. In revolutionary DAYS musket
bullets of full bore were made by law legal
tender as small change in Massachusetts. though
nobody was compelled TO accept more than
twelve of them at one payment. This regula-
ton served incidentally a military provision,
it being desirable that every household should
have private stock of ammunition. At the
same period shell money was in common cir
beads being worth 10 per cent more than
silver, weight for weight In Virginia tobacco
was the best accepted currency a century ago.
1t is worth mentioning, by the way, that the
ancient Hebrews used precious stones as money
to large extent.
The EARLIEST AMERICAN COINS
included in the museum collections are those
which were minted by Cortez by permission
from the Spanish crown. They are Of copper
and the design on one side represents the
Pillars of Hercules. They were issued at about
the date of Columbus death. In this conpec-
ton it is interesting to record the fact that in
1869 Gen. Montgomery Meigs was stationed at
Corpus Christi, Tex. A fisherman living near
by on Padre Island gave him in change a cop
per coin OF the Columbus epoch. bearing the
portraits Of Ferdinand and Isabella. When
questioned regarding it. he would not tell
where he got it, but it was learned that he had
been passing similar coins in great numbers in
the town. On investigation it was found that
he collected them on part Of the beach of
Padre Island, where they were washed up by
the waves in considerable numbers. some Of
them cemented together in chunks and all of
them blackened by age and corroded by sea
water. There could be no doubt that thew
were part of the treasure of Spanish galleon
which was known to have been sunk in the time
Of Cortez, about 1890 The coin secured by
Gen Meigs he gave to the museum.
HOG MONEY.
1t is believed that Cortez coined silver monev
also. After his issues the earliest American
money was minted for the Bermudas early in
the seventeenth century. However. IL was
manufactured in England. The metal was
copper and the values were a shilling and A
sixpence. 1t was called ''hog money! because
each piece bore the figure of hog on one side
The design was derived from the fact that the
early settlers on the islands found great many
hogs running wild They were the descend
ants OF domesticated swine which had survived
the wreck of a vessel some years before So
Tar as is known, only two Of the hog shillings
are at present in existence. both Of them owned
In Boston, and there is but one of the sixpences
extant, which was dug up in . Bermuda garden
not very long ago. II is surprising how
rare some coins once in common use have
become. The earliest coinage in Connecticut
was executed by one John Higley, who estab-
lished private mint, turning out copper pieces
from ore dug on his own premises These bear
dates from 1877 to 1888. Probably the chief
reason why they are scarce IL that the copper
Of which they were made was exceptionally
pure. and goldsmiths used the coins largely for
ailoying. In those days the colonial paper
huctuated in value very much, and there was
difficulty in giving coins . constant worth.
Accordingly the modest mint master inscribed
on one side Of his pieces, Il am good copper"
while on the other side appeared the ipscrip-
tion, "vslus me - you ploase."
ooUxrxRYKIrHe ANCIENT COINS.