> From: "Vee L. Housman" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > > Dear Jane, > > I'm certain that Kim would jump in here right now and explain that in > Phoebe's 1860 diary she was apparently living on the tip of Long Island. In > 1857 she was living in Niagara County. > > The reason for my putting my two cents in here (or two farthings??) is > because of her use of the British term for money as late as 1860. I was > quite surprised at the continued lingering use of the terms if not the > actual coins. A number of years ago I meticulously transcribed the Minutes > of the Proceedings of of School District No. Three of Lewiston and Town of > Porter dating from 1819 to 1872. As I recall even up into the 1840s and > 1850s the records would show that so many pounds and pence were spent on > fire wood or such. > > I still find it the continued use of the terms quiet strange well after the > War of 1812 at the least. > P.S. Hmmmm, I wonder if I could be coerced into extracting the MOST > interesting stories that can be read into those school district meetings. > Hmmmm! > vee Because the early US Mint had a lot of trouble providing enough US money and because of our extensive trade with Canada and Mexico, foreign coins were legal tender in the US until 1857. There were many books published at the time that listed the various foreign moneys a bank or store clerk might encounter and tables showing how to turn English pounds into Spanish reales or Portuguese "Joes". It was not uncommon for businesses of the 1850s to keep their accounts in pounds or reales, depending on where they were located. I remember as a child being shown well worn Spanish pieces of eight that my great-great grandfather supposedly received in trade at this grocery store in Lewiston in the mid to late 19th century (alas they have long since disappeared). So it's not the least bit unusual that Phoebe would still be referring to English money in 1860, especially if she had been born there. Anyone living in Niagara county in the 1850's would have come across a lot of English money in trade (Canada didn't get their own dollar until 1858), since Canada was still part of the British empire at the time. David Cornell

David explained: > Because the early US Mint had a lot of trouble providing enough US money > and because of our extensive trade with Canada and Mexico, foreign coins > were legal tender in the US until 1857. There were many books published > at the time that listed the various foreign moneys a bank or store clerk > might encounter and tables showing how to turn English pounds into > Spanish reales or Portuguese "Joes". It was not uncommon for businesses > of the 1850s to keep their accounts in pounds or reales, depending on > where they were located. I remember as a child being shown well worn > Spanish pieces of eight that my great-great grandfather supposedly > received in trade at this grocery store in Lewiston in the mid to late > 19th century (alas they have long since disappeared). > > So it's not the least bit unusual that Phoebe would still be referring > to English money in 1860, especially if she had been born there. Anyone > living in Niagara county in the 1850's would have come across a lot of > English money in trade (Canada didn't get their own dollar until 1858), > since Canada was still part of the British empire at the time. WOW, David, thanks for such a thorough explanation of the continuing exchange of foreign coins well into the mid 1800s. And here I thought I knew everything! :-) vee