Reference & Research
350 Rowe Boulevard
Annapolis, MD 21401
MD toll free (800) 235-4045
or (410) 260-6400
fax: (410) 974-2525
email:
ref@mdsa.net
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Maryland State Archives Reference & Research |
350 Rowe Boulevard
Annapolis, MD 21401
MD toll free (800) 235-4045
or (410) 260-6400
fax: (410) 974-2525
email:
ref@mdsa.net
|
|
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Understanding Maryland Records
Because coined and
printed money were in short supply during the early Colonial period, records
frequently showed payments being made in pounds of tobacco. Sterling and
current money used the English monetary system, which had 20 shillings
to a pound, 12 pence to a shilling, and 4 farthings to a penny. Farthings
were usually shown as a fraction of a penny, that is, 5} pence, rather
than 5 pence 2 farthings. When listing amounts, as in an inventory, periods
were put between pounds, shillings, and pence, that is, 143.l8.10 meant
143 pounds, 18 shillings, 10 pence.
An example of
adding pounds, shillings, and pence:
In addition to tobacco
and sterling, other kinds of money were widely used, including foreign
coins such as the Spanish dollar, which was cut into eight pieces when
small change was needed. Finally, in 1732, Lord Baltimore agreed to print
paper currency, to be backed by Maryland's tobacco export revenues invested
in Bank of England stock. Because of the extensive use of the Spanish dollar,
some Maryland currency used the term "dollar," even printing pictures of
two Spanish milled dollars on some 1770 two-dollar notes. The variety of
money in circulation is evident in the 1751 estate of a merchant in which
the inventory listed Spanish currency, identified as "gold currency," and
the list of debts collected had separate columns for tobacco, sterling,
Maryland currency, and Virginia currency. The value of Maryland currency
in relation to sterling varied from time to time, but because merchants
paid for British imports in sterling, the inventory listed goods in the
decedent's store in sterling, then added 75 per cent to that total as "the
value of the store goods in current money."
Continental money was
paper money issued by the Second Continental Congress beginning in 1775.
Originally redeemable in gold or silver coins, it became nearly worthless
after the Revolution because notes printed exceeded the gold and silver
reserves.
In 1784 Thomas Jefferson
then a member of the House of Representatives, advocated that United States
money be based on a simple dollar unit and that the decimal system
be used to make calculations easier. A bill was passed in 1792 stating
that money of the United States should be in dollars, with dimes for tenths
and cents for hundredths. Half-dimes were minted in 1792, copper cents
and half cents in 1793, and gold and silver dollars in 1794. Dollars did
not circulate long. Due to price changes on the international market, gold
dollars became worth more when melted down into bullion than their face
value as coins. There was a similar problem with silver dollars. The Bank
of Maryland had been chartered in 1790 and began issuing paper money redeemable
for hard coin, as did other banks. Until the 1830s, money in circulation
consisted mainly of bank notes, foreign gold and silver coins, and domestic
fractional silver and copper coins. The United States did not issue its
first paper currency until 1861.
Maryland records show
a gradual, but uneven, change in currency from "pounds" to "dollars."
Montgomery County tax assessments in 1793, 1798, and 1804 were listed in
pounds; in 1813, the currency changed to dollars. In the land records is
a deed in 1801 giving the price in dollars; as late as 1816, there is a
deed listing it in pounds.
Return
to Understanding Maryland Records
Questions regarding Archives' collections and services should be directed
to the Reference Services Department at:
ref@mdsa.net
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