Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-09-11

coins of this country, being known In
each different section by a local name.
This coin is a Spanish real, with
general value Of 12s cents. 1t first
came into circulation here in the lat
ter part Of the eighteenth century. AS
a great deal Of the commerce of the
American colonies was carried on with
Spain at that time, and as this coun-
try had very little currency of Its own,
the real became more generally circu-
lated than any other coin.
'In the west it was known as bit
and was probably more in circulation
there than in any other section. This
name of bit no doubt originated from
the character of the real that preceded
the one that was used here. 1t was
issued in the early part Of the eigh-
teenth century, and was nothing more
than an irregularly shaped piece Of sill
YER rudely stamped on both sides by
hand. Its workmanship was Of the
crudest character, and was very SINH
lar to that Of Roman coins Of 1000
years ago. being a good illustration of
the lack of progressiveness of the
Spanish in the manufacture Of money
as we'll as in other directions.
Throughout the south and the
southwest the real was known as a
levy particularly in the cities Of New
Orleans and Baltimore, and many of
the older generation there even to this
day at times unconsciously say levy
pound or levy dozen when speaking
of prices.
"In New York city the real went by
another name. Here it was called
shilling, or more properly, a York
shilling and was so generally used
that among certain New Workers.
twenty five-cent piece Is nowadays
more often referred to as two shill-
ing than as quarter
"In Massachusetts and throughout
the most of the New England states
the real was called by still another
name. In this section 1t was referred
to as a ninepence. At that time there
were in circulation throughout the
eastern states English, Canadian
Mexican and Spanish pence, which
naturally resulted in great confusion
of values.
| Another coin almost as generally
used as the real was the half-real
This coin was known as a five-penny-
l,;t ohhroufafo6
1t was worth 81 cents.
1T is the common impression thai
the fifty-dollar, fifty-cent, and twenty
five-cent gold pieces were Of United
States issue, but this was not the
case. During the first few years Of
the gold excitement in California there
was very little money Of any kind II
circulation there, the principal circu'
lating medium being gold dust, the
handling Of which was attended BY
more or less loss and inconvenience
The result was that many mining
companies and other concerns begar
the manufacture of their own money
mostly in gold, but in some cases tir
and copper were used, and these coin!
were freely accepted at their fac'
value in this section of the country.
These coins when first issued II
1S49 were standard in quality, but de-
Perforated, until finally they did no
contain more than rs per cent. Of gold
This was true, however, only Of tht
dollar and fifty and twenty-five cen
pieces, as the fifty-dollar gold pieces
or 'slugs,' as they were general!
known, contained even a greater per-
centage Of gold than the coins mintet
by the United States. The dollar ant
fifty and twenty-five cent gold piece.
were botE round and octagonal II
| form, and some of them were Of yer!
handsome design, having been mad
mostly by jewelers..
1T is only within the last few
years that money of small denomina
ton has been in circulation in Califor
MIA and the western states, as nothing
could be bought with it. For Ions
time the lowest price Of any article
q
and one-cent pieces not being used a
all.
"A requisition came to the Washing
ton mint the other day from the Call
fornia sub-treasury for $4,000 worth o
nickels and $4,000 worth Of cents
which occasioned much surprise, th'
order being the first of its kind tina
ever came from that section Of th'
country, but it shows the tendency o
values, and it would not surprise mi
to see the issuance Of fractional parts
of a cent, corresponding with th'
farthings, centimes, and pennings O.
the European countries. Yorl
Times.