The professional world. (Columbia, Mo.) 1901-192?, 1902-08-22
OUR oID-T1ME SILVER COINS.
The Picayune. Ftp. Sixpence or Ftp
penny Bit.

New Orleans FicaYune: From time
to- time n great dcalis sail and written
that is seriously misleading concerning
the small Spanish coin after which this
newspaper. the Picayune. was named.
Congress, by the mint act Of 1899
adopted the money amt o. the tnit"d
States money coinage. the spanish
milled dollar. or piece OF eight reals.
II was commonly called the piece OF
eight. II was uf the value OF eight
reals Of plate, that is If silver. a real
Rad the value of 1879 cents. the
real in Spanish meaning royal
The dollar was n piece ~ eight rnSals
Of silver. The real was also divided IN
to two half-reals If tn" value each OF
ia cents. They were All coined hy Tie
Spanish minis. i'll spain and Mexico.
For centuries after IN" discovery ami
conquest of a large part OF III" western
Shcmisph.re 10y the Spauiards spain had
more gold and %silcver than was possess
cd by any other nation, and. perhaps,
my half dozen OF the nations If En-
rope. Spanish money was G!Tusei over
Mo countries nj North America and IN
The British colonies there WAS liitl"
other hard money than Spanish. III"
Sll!|-E sllstI 'tlliN. Nill'si 49, VIZ
! dollar. the haIf-do!iar the Guarter-1el-
lar. the eighth Of n dollar aud 'h' 10Th
Of a dollar. were found sverNwh"r" IN
the Tniroi States from New Enelandto
Georgia. which WAS the most southern
Of N" o"rieita! i: states.
Ia United States mint. which got
10 work'a1out l7d5, was ahl" 10 turn out
MT, /, small cainage. and for years the
:, aiiis,i coins made M III" chief cir
! c,lating Medium, On Foh. II. 1871,
congress enacted n law requiring that
! all SPANISH coins received by the GOV
eminent should "" melted and mint"t
into United States money. From that
| time the Spanish coins A-'Can 10 lisan-
pear, and they have long ago gone GU,
Of $50.
The Spanish coins horr on their fac"
or divers" side. tho portrait 'of ih'
King, with III" inscription in Latin, ~ in
the case ~ Charles III .Carolns II. Res
I Hisrantae. ct lniiarum~" king Of Spain
AMI the Indies with the date Of coin
ara. The reverse side bore the pillars
| Of Hercules and the Spanish arms. Wit!
the inscription. Ne Plus l't.1." The
! piliars of Hercules referred 20 The tive
pyomontorios Of Gibraltar. and the no
'ion held by IN" ancient people al
Southern Europe and Northern Africa
who believed there was on the earth
nothing To westward. ~ Gibraltar. The
~half-dollars. the quarters. the eiehi-
and sixte"n'hs OF the dollar We're al
stamped It, IN" sam" way.
The name "FicaN'ne" Is from n mon
grel Carib-Spanish word ~ricalun. or pi-
caloOn, pronounced as is common IN
New Orleans. II was supplied all III.
Spanish states and colonies. such rs
Florida and Mexico. both adjoining
Louisiana. to the half-real, tyr piece
worth CT. cents. 1t was as well known
In all the Atlantic states. where, how
ever. il was called by different names
such as ftp" fourpsnce-ha' penny, ftp
penny hit. That the picayane was
regular Spanish coin, as a matter o,
urtttia+HFt and absolute record. is fun,
established. and there was nothing
about il that was local except the name
In 1897. when the Picayune rewspanp,
was founded. ...e Spanish half real was
the smallest coin in circulation in New
Orleans. and II was ad0rfel as the name
and the price Of this newspaFer.-tTht
Picayune coin can be seen pictured
with a full description in any Of the H.
Illustrated coin manuals.