The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-07

They Differ According to the Section
of the Country.
From the Galveston News.

lOHl tllS Nd4NNSAOii -NNNS.
Referring to the word "picayuue," it
may not be undressing TO give a sketch
of subsidiary coinage and currency as
used in the past and the various names
under which it was known.
In Ohio In 1874 and previously there was
a good deal of foreign coin in circulation,
mostly Spanish, with some of the old state
coinage of different states occasionally
making its appearance. One of the most
plentiful of these foreign coins was
piece which passed for SIC. In Ohio this
was known as a flppenny bit,a contraction,
probably, Of fve-penny bit The half d mes
of American coinage were also becoming
frequent at that time, and as a dlstlnc-
ton between the half-dime and the fppen-
ny bit the former was contracted 10 the
word ftp" The dime went under its law
full name. while the old Spanish double
of the fippenny bit was known as the "plt"
and the Spanish and American quarter
dollars We're nearly always referred to as
two bits" The latter term, | think, still
obtains in reference to quarter dollar
American pieces in some sections. There
was also New York state "two-bit' CON-
as well as a bit" of the same coinage,
which was sometimes called the York
shilling" The Pine Tree State shilling,
coming from Maine, was sometimes seen
out not muCn used It's Ndlut was sup
posed to be 16 2-3 cents. The old-fash-
toned big copper cent of American coin
age was plentiful, while occasionally an
English halfpenny of copper was found
floating around generally passing on the
same basis as the American copper cent.
Queen Victoria's head was shown on the
| English halfpennies.
Later when as a boy, | removed with
my mother to Illinois. | met my first Stun
bling block in money names There the
| fppenny bit was the picayune, while the
| ftp had its proper name of half-dlme,
| or cents. But the larger coins retained
the old names as did the copper cents.
AS near as / can learn, the term picayune
originated with the French. who had set
| tied St. Louis and had settlements at
! points all the way from New Orleans to
| St Louis and the farther Northwest, and
their names for money predominated in
that region.
| Sull later, when l had strayed away to
J New York state, l again encountered new
| names for money. There everything was
| based on the shilling" which represent
| ed u cents. A quarter of a dollar was
always Two shillings," and all sums IN
! der 800 were calculated on the same basis.
When l asked the price OF board l was
! told 1t ranged from 16 to 30 shillings a
! week The price of suit of clothes was
! generally stated in shillings That was
| all right for The natives, but ! confess /
had frequently to brush up my arithmetic
to get at what SO shillings, % shlllings, II
| shillings, or some other higher number
amounted to. 1t was all clear enough when
| ii was 2, A or shillings, but when IL got
above the dollar IL required some cipher
ing" on the part of the stranger to get
| correct results.
The 3-cent piece originally coined in sill
| yer. came into general circulation In the
| North about 1850, and was later made in
nickel. being coined in that metal about
The same time as the present nickel scent
piece
Some time before the Civil War the old
fashioned copper cent was replaced at the
mint with the present small copper cents
and 2-cent pieces. Later the first nickels
were made, but almost went out of cir
culation during the war. and were sue
ceeded by the fractional currency of that
day issued in s, 10, % and 50-ceut bills
These were never very popular with the
masses and were looked upon by the gov
eminent as a temporary expedient. The
| most popular designation Of them was
"shinplaster,' though in Memphis and
some other parts of the country they were
| referred TO as Chicken feed"