The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1894-12-13


As have stated l. fore, the colued
moneg then in circulation Was prln-
cipalIy English, Spanish, and Dutch.
Gradually the Dutch currency
was supplaned, and the currency Of
England and the mil.ed dollar of
Spain became the prevailing money
in use among the Colonies.
II may bc instructive To trace ont the
history Of the English pound sterliog.
1t is certainly very intert sting. The
early history of the coinage OF Brit
tain says: The weight Of the Anglo
Saxon coins was regulated by a pound,
which is presumed to have been
brought from Germany, and was
known in that country at a later
date as the Cologne weight. 1t be-
came known in England as the Tow
er pound, as the Tower was tn
place where the principle mlnting
was done for the kingdom. This
Tower pound received its name dur
ing the first years of the reign of
Edward Ill. 1t continued until the
time of Henry VIII, by whom it WAS
abolished, and the pound Troy was
in It's stead. The pound
Troy was heavier by three-quarters
of an ounce than the Tower pound,
for which it was the substitute.
The length of the Kings arm, it
IS SAID, used to be the standard for
the yard measure. 1t is also said
that these ancient BritaIns selected
twenty-four kernels of wheat from
the middle of the head, or ear as
they called it, and the combined
weight of these twenty-four kernels
made the pennyweight of the Tower
pound. Subsequently in the Troy
pound, which was more weightv,
thirty-two grains were divided into
twenty-four parts, each representing
the weight of one and one-tblrd Of
the twenty-four original grains Of
the Tower pound. This gives US
the weight of the original pound
Troy, or, as it cane to be known
soon after and is known at the pres
ent time, the pound sterling Of Eng
land, the name sterling being given
it on account of the accuracy of its
weight and honesty Of Its alloy.
From this it will be seen that what
is called the pound sterling Of Eng
land was originally one TROY pound
of standard silver consisting Of
eleven onces, two pennywelghts Of
fine silver, and eighteen pennyweights
of alloy, or 800 grains Of standard
silver. 1t is said that the Gneness
of the silver coins of England re-
manned unchanged from the time Of
Henry ii to the present, excepting
some twenty years during the latter
part of the reign Of Henry VIII and
the first years Of Edward VI, a period
Of more than 700 years. 1t is
none the less true that the present
pound sterling represents but $780,
grains of standard silver, instead #
), 700 grains, an it did in the time Of
Henry ii. The history of the Span
ish milled dollar, used so extensieIy
by our early fathers, and from
which we derive oWn silver dollar,
cannot be 50 clearly traced. The
dollar symbol, 5, is said to be derived
from the two pillars of Hercules, one
of the Oldest symbols known to our
race. 1t was first placed upon coins
by Charles ', Emperor of Germany,
who, being also King of Spain, used
them in that relation to support his
escutcheon, and also placed them in
the device on the old Spanish pillar
dollar. This dollar was Of the val
ue of tifty-four pence English money
sterling, and was afterward adopted
as the unit of our own American
money. The Spanish milled dollar
Vas so called because the edge was
"milled," sereated or stamped.
Although there were no coins
minted in England called dollars,
yet there is good reason to believe
that many foreign coins, of different
values, from various outside nations.
were circulating there under the
common name of dollars previous tc
1000. The word dollar is said tC
come from the name given silver
coin, minted in a remote valley of
Bohemia in 1913, called schIickten
thaler. This word thaler has been
corrupted into our word dollar
The status of the dollar was de-
fined in 1904 by Queen Anne, III d
royal proclamation, placing its value
at tifty-four pence sterling. Gold
coin was first introduced into Eng
lish coinage by Henry III. The
metal was twentyfour carats fine, Of
pure gold. 1t remained so until
Edward III, when a standard of
twenty-three carats, three and one,
half grains of fine gold, and one
half grain of alloy took its place
The carat is bean, the fruit OF
an Abyssinian tree called kuara
This bean varies but trifle weight
after being gathered. 1t seems tC
have been used in the earliest ages
as weight for gold. In India ii
is said to be still in use to weigh
diamonds. Silver was the unit of
the measure of values in England a:
in Rome before and America since
until 1878. Gold was the ratio as il
was here previous to the demonetlza
ton Of silver.
TO be continued in next isSue)
Howard F. ,JoDe. for