Colonial Coin
Posted in Uncategorized on 07/17/2008 10:30 pm by admin
Colonial Coin
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 1730 Half Penny Used In Early America Colonial Large Coin  US $10.49
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 1788 8 Real COLONIAL Mexico coin GREAT COIN Mexican coin US $98.00
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The development of monetary and banking institutions in the United States has followed neither a smooth nor a completely logical course. Most major changes in the nation's monetary structure were precipitated by either war or economic crisis. A few were the products of forward-looking financial leadership. Not all changes have been progressive, but advances have vastly outweighed reverses, creating a strong and viable monetary system for the country today.
In the colonial period, very little money circulated in the American colonies. Although settlers brought gold and silver coins from Europe, most of this flowed quickly back to England because the balance of trade weighed heavily in that direction. By the time of the American Revolution, there was less than $12 million in coin in the colonies--less than $5 each for the roughly 2.5 million settlers.
Colonists developed imaginative solutions to the problem of expanding trade and production despite the extremely limited circulation of money. Barter, or the direct exchange of goods, became so entrenched in early colonial days that it was still practiced in some heavily agricultural areas as late as 1800. In most areas, though, colonists found that certain commodities--so called country pay--facilitated trade. Tobacco and corn, in particular, were easily stored and relatively uniform commodities that were widely used as a medium of exchange.
Country pay was legally sanctioned in 1618, when the Governor of Virginia specified an official value for tobacco as a means of payment. Soon after, Massachusetts set an official price for corn and made it legal payment, or legal tender, for discharging debts. But every farmer soon began growing his own "money" and as more was grown, the value of country pay depreciated rapidly. Official prices could seldom be maintained for long.
The obvious disadvantages of the barter system and country pay led to widespread dissatisfaction with the shortage of money. Several attempts were made to establish mints in the colonies to alleviate the coin shortage, but most of these were unsuccessful. Mints that gave indication of being successful were quickly closed by the English government to protect the royal prerogative of coinage.
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