To start with, in 1783 there was no US Mint. The "government" was not minting or printing its own money. I put government in quotes since 1783 was the year the Revolutionary War officially ended and between that date through roughly 1790 the US was really a Confederacy (yes, just like the CSA). Individual states had far more power than they do today. With that in mind they each (as far as I know all of them to one degree or another) printed their own currency and many of them minted their own coins until the mint was established. It might be easier to picture your question using a modern example. The US is not the only country to use the "dollar" as its currency. Australia uses the Australian dollar, the Bahamas have the Bahamian dollar, Singapore uses the dollar, as well as another 10 or so countries. Just because each of these countries uses "dollars" doesn't mean that they are equal in terms of what they will buy. Two hundred years ago countries used gold and silver as the basis of the value of their coinage and currency (silver or gold certificates anyone?). Spain was typically the country upon which others based the value of their coins. I really don't know how much silver, by weight, was in a Spanish dollar, but let's say it was 5 troy ounces. Let's say that Massachusetts minted it's own coins and that they minted a coin called a dollar, but it contained only half as much silver as the Spanish coin. That MA dollar isn't worth as much as the Spanish dollar, and obviously it won't buy as much. Obviously Virginia minted it's own coins at this time. I don't think the Carolinas did, but I know they printed currency. People liked having silver and gold in their hands and not a piece of paper whose value could change on a whim. From what I have read Virginia coins were stable in their value so it is typical to see "Virginia money" specified. So, people were well aware of the value, or in fact its "buying power", so they would have specified it. Occasionally you will see curency specified in terms of so many pounds of Viriginia tobacco. This was especially true in the 1600s to mid 1700s but by 1783 it was uncommon. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Betty Bivins" <halbet@angus1841.com> To: <scedgefi@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 8:04 PM Subject: [SCEDGEFI] phrase-Virginia money > In certain transcriptions in old documents from this time period, I have > seen reference to the phrase, "__pounds Virginia money." as per the snip > below in the estate in SC in 1783. > > Does anyone know what this really means? I know that there were many > fluctuations back and forth between the pound and the American currency > around the time of the Revolution but have never seen an explanation of > our > monetary system. > Does anyone know of a website or reference to one that would explain this > term? > > Thank you for your time. > betty in ga > > > Joseph Minter estate (1783), >> Abbeville County, South Carolina Probate Box 65, pkg. 1562. >> >> Will of Joseph Minter >> (Page 1) >> I Joseph Minter of the County of Granville & province of North Carolina >> being sick & weak but of sound reason & memory do constitute & appoint >> this my >> last will & testament. I dispose of my estate as follows. > .......... >> 6th I give & bequeath to my Daughter Annamariah Minter Fifty pounds >> Virginia >> money to be paid out of the rest of my estate to be delivered to her at >> her >> marriage or lawful age. > ....... > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SCEDGEFI-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Even more complicated than that! VA did not mint its own coins in the 1780's, nor did any other newly-formed state. The preferred means-of-exchange was the Spanish silver piece-of-eight, which could be cut into 8 sections. Cut it into four pieces, and one was a "quarter", a term still in use. (I actually have one of those Spanish coins from the 1790's.) The term "dollar" was from the "thaler" that was a standard unit-of-currency in Germany in the 1700's. The VA currency wasn't noticeably more stable than the currency of any of the other provinces before 1776, or any of the later states. Those of us born prior to 1950 will probably recall the "Folk Song Revival" of the 1960's, when a popular song included "I don't give a d__m about a Greenback Dollar, spend it fast as I can!" That was a resurrection of a very-early song, when nobody could depend upon a U.S.-issued dollar to hold its value. Also the expression "I don't give a Continental!" The Continental currency was so notoriously value-less that the term could be used for "expletive-deleted". Our ancestors had some hard times with their financial affairs. The ones who owned farms and knew how to grow food on their land did better than the people in other occupations. At that time, there was no coin or piece-of-currency called a British "pound". It was merely an accounting convenience as a unit-of-exchange. The book-entry for one £ sterling was 20 shillings. The actual "coin" was a gold guinea worth 21 shillings. (I can't imagine how they came up with that system.) There weren't actual bills-or-coins for the exchange-entries among colonies, states or nations either, merely entries in accounting-books by merchant-bankers, with the usual add-ons for their effort in converting-the-currencies. When people specified in the 1780's that their transactions were to be measured in "pounds sterling", they knew what they were getting. When specified as "SC current money" or "VA money", they might get surprised by the value going downhill in a hurry. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Matthews" <dialzero@bellsouth.net> To: <scedgefi@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 8:39 PM Subject: *** SPAM *** Re: [SCEDGEFI] phrase-Virginia money To start with, in 1783 there was no US Mint. The "government" was not minting or printing its own money. I put government in quotes since 1783 was the year the Revolutionary War officially ended and between that date through roughly 1790 the US was really a Confederacy (yes, just like the CSA). Individual states had far more power than they do today. With that in mind they each (as far as I know all of them to one degree or another) printed their own currency and many of them minted their own coins until the mint was established. It might be easier to picture your question using a modern example. The US is not the only country to use the "dollar" as its currency. Australia uses the Australian dollar, the Bahamas have the Bahamian dollar, Singapore uses the dollar, as well as another 10 or so countries. Just because each of these countries uses "dollars" doesn't mean that they are equal in terms of what they will buy. Two hundred years ago countries used gold and silver as the basis of the value of their coinage and currency (silver or gold certificates anyone?). Spain was typically the country upon which others based the value of their coins. I really don't know how much silver, by weight, was in a Spanish dollar, but let's say it was 5 troy ounces. Let's say that Massachusetts minted it's own coins and that they minted a coin called a dollar, but it contained only half as much silver as the Spanish coin. That MA dollar isn't worth as much as the Spanish dollar, and obviously it won't buy as much. Obviously Virginia minted it's own coins at this time. I don't think the Carolinas did, but I know they printed currency. People liked having silver and gold in their hands and not a piece of paper whose value could change on a whim. From what I have read Virginia coins were stable in their value so it is typical to see "Virginia money" specified. So, people were well aware of the value, or in fact its "buying power", so they would have specified it. Occasionally you will see curency specified in terms of so many pounds of Viriginia tobacco. This was especially true in the 1600s to mid 1700s but by 1783 it was uncommon.