Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1901-01-17
WILLISTON GRAPHIC
CHICKEN FEED MONEY.
The Days Of Flppeny Bits, York
Shinings, Picayunes, Coppers.
The Origin In Various Parts Of the
Country of the Colloquial
Names of Small Coins
Uncle Sam's Money.

Uncle saM's Money.
Referring to the word ''pieayune, 1t
NAV not he embarrassing to give
sketch Of subsidiary coinage and cur
rency as used in the past, and the varl'
Gus names under which it was known.
In Ohio in 1S44 and previously there
was good deal of foreign coin in circu-
lation, mostly Spanish, with some OF
the old state coinage OF different states
occasionally making its appearance.
Cne of the most plentiful OF these for
eign coins was piece which passed
current fcr6H cents. In Ohio this was
known as fppeny bit, contraction
probably of tivepenny bit. Inc nan
dimes of American coinage were also
becoming frequently at that time, and
as a distinction between the half dime
and the fippeny bit the former was con-
tracted to the word Flip" The dime
went under its lawful name, while the
old Spanish double of the tippeny bit
was known as the "bit," and the Span
ish and Mexican quarter dollars were
nearly always referred to as two DTS.
The latter term, think, still obtains
in reference to quarter-dollar American
pieces in some sections. There was
also New York state "two bit coin,
as well as ''bit" of the same coinage,
which was sometimes called the 1ork
shillinr." The Pine Tree state shilling,
coming from Maine, was sometimes
seen. but not much used. Its value was
supposed to be 16 2-3 cents. The old
fashioned big copper cent of American
coinage was plentiful, while OCCASION
ally: an English halfpenny OF copper
was: found floating around, generally
passing on the same basis as the Ameri-
can copper cent Queen Victoria's
head. was then shown on the English
halfpennies.;
Later, when, as a boy, removed with
nv mother to Illinois, met my first
stumbling block in money names"
There the fippenny bit was the plea
yune, while the ftp had it's proper name
| of half dime or five cents. But the
larger coins retained the old names, as
did the copper coins. AS near as I can
learn, the term picayune originated
with the French, who had settled st.
Louis and had settlements at points all
the way from New Orleans to St. Louis
and the further northwest, and their
names for money predominated in that
region.
Still later, when I had strayed away
to New York state, again encountered
i new names for money. There every
i thing was based on the shilling"
which represented 1914 cents. A quar-
ter. of dollar was always two shll-
lings,'' and all sums under $500 were
calculated on the same basis. When
asked the price of board l was told it
ranged from 16 to 30 shillings week.
The price of suit of clothes was gem
orally stated in shillings. That was
all right for the natives, but confess
had frequently to brush up my arith-
metic to get at what 33 shillings, %
shillings, II shillings, or some other
high number, amounted to. 1t was all
8 clear enough when it was two, four or
six shillings, but when it got above the
dollar it required some "ciphering' on
the part of a stranger to get correct re-
suits.
The three-cent piece, originally coined
in silver, came into general circulation
in the north about 1850, and was later
made in nickel, being coined in that
metal at about the same time as the
present nickel five-cent piece.
| Some time before the civil war the
cld-fashioned copper cent was replaced
, at the mint with the present small cop
! per cents and the two-cent pieces
Later the first nickels were made, but
almost went out of circulation during
the war, and were succeeded by the
, fractional currency of that day, issued
in 5, 10, IS and 50-cent bills. These
were never very popular with the
masses, and were looked upon by the
government as temporary expedient
The most popular designation for then
was "shinplasters," though in Memphis
and some other parts of the country
: they were referred to as Chicken feed.
+. During the war there were many
\ ether substitutes for money, mostly il
: the form of cardboard promises to pay
everything from a drink of whisky o.
q ride on the cars to a, suit of clothes
from a quart of milk or pound OF beef
steak to weeks salary. They have
dropped out of use in most sections, ant
in their place Uncle Sans coppers
nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars
and 'dollar. of the tladdies" now. reig1
supreme. Spangler, in Galveston
News.
The Queen OF spain's Busy Life.
, Spain is essentially a lazy country
In all ranks the people rise late ant
turn night into day; but the queer
regent-a tall, graceful woman, look
ing younger than her years, sets then
an excellent example. Up at seven
her first care is given to her children
and by eight o'clock she is already a
work with her secretary. It is onl
after lunch, toward two o'clock, tina
she allows herself an hour. of well
" earned rest, and some idea of Quee'
j =. !, y1>t,rr 70