Currency of the Expansionist West

[Tsalagidave]

Currency of the Expansionist West
By Dave Rodgers

Not enough talk covers the kinds of currency used across the western regions of the American expansionist era.  Since the 1850s is a good central time frame to focus on, I’ll do it from that perspective.  Keep in mind; I am omitting numerous citations of the various banking and currency legislation during the period. Otherwise, this would sound like a legal document rather than a fun, quick article. Also, I am not going to mention anything about the numerous reforms that occurred during the War of the Rebellion on both the US and CS sides. Those deserve their own articles.
It would not be until the American Civil War that there would be paper banknotes that could be widely carried and circulated. Hard cash was preferred over local script and specie was required for those traveling west. Here are some quick notations about the period currency you should know.


The Design of (1837-1891)
The “Seated Liberty” design covers the bulk of the expansionist and antebellum periods that most living historians portray. The design featured the seated image of Columbia (The goddess Liberty) on the obverse with a wreath on the reverse for the 5¢ and 10¢ denominations. An eagle decorated the back of the 25¢, 50¢, and $1 denominations.

The Various Denominations used

Copper alloy:
½ Cent (featured a bust of Columbia) was discontinued by the coinage act of 1857.
Large Cent (featured a bust of Columbia) was nearly the size of a half dollar and was discontinued by the coinage act of 1857.
Copper-nickel alloy:
Us “small” cent was roughly the same size as today’s penny. It originally featured the image of a flying eagle from 1857-1858 and then featured the “Indian head” design that continued into the 20th century. Two bits of interesting trivia are:
1.   The “Indian Head” is actually Lady Liberty in a Plains Indian headdress.
2.   The slang term “Nickel” or “Nick” was in reference to the small cents. The 5¢ “nickel” coin we refer to now did not come about until 1866.

Silver:
•   Seated Liberty half-dime was the 5¢ denomination. It was one half the mass of the dime and were minted from 1837 to 1873
•   Seated Liberty dime was the 10¢ denomination. They were minted from 1837 to 1891.
•   Seated liberty Quarter was the 25¢ denomination. It was minted from 1838 to 1891.
•   Seated Liberty Half Dollar was the 50¢ denomination. It was minted from 1839 to 1891.
•   Seated Liberty Silver Dollar actually carried more than a dollar’s worth of silver in it from 1853 onward. These were typically hoarded and could be bartered at a higher cost than its actual face value.

Gold
The start of the California Gold Rush spawned many privately operated mints. These produced everything from bullion to actual coins. The typical denominations were: 25¢, 50¢, $1, $2.50, $5, $10, $20 and even $50 coins (the latter were also called “slugs”).
The US typically minted gold dollars, 3-dollar pieces, “Quarter Eagles” ($2.50), “Half Eagles” ($5), “Eagles” ($10), and “Double Eagles” ($20).

The Value of Money
There was so much gold found during the California Gold Rush that the world value of gold actually dropped while the world value of silver rose exponentially. The result was that in 1853, the US mints reduced the amount of silver used in its coins. Below is a comparison.
•   US Dollars maintained the same amount (412.5gr) of silver in its composition after 1853 for international trade purposes.
•   50¢ coin composition was  206.5gr in 1847 and 192gr in 1853.
•   25¢ coin composition was 103.125gr in 1847 and 96gr in 1853.
•   10¢ coin composition was 41.25gr in 1847 and 38.4gr in 1853
•   5¢ coin composition was 20.625gr in 1847 and 19.2gr in 1853

Domestic and International Exchange as of 1854 (pretty consistent after 1853 through the remainder of the decade)
(Gold)
American Eagle (pre Jul. 31, 1834)      $10.66
American Half Eagle (pre Jul. 31, 1834)      $5.33
California $20 piece      $19.50
California $10 piece      9.50
California $5 piece      4.75
English/Australian Soverign      4.75 (4.87) *Different sources
10 Thaler (German) & 20 Guilder (Dutch)      7.50
5 Thaler / 10 Guilder      3.75
20 Francs (French)      3.75
5 Rubles (Russian)      3.75
Ducat (Austrian)      2.00
Doubloon (Spanish)      15.58
Half Johana (Brazil)      8.53
Napoleon (France)      3.86


(Silver)
Spanish Dollar (8R)      $1
Mexican Dollar (8R)      $1
Peruvian Dollar (8R)      $1
Chilean Dollar (8R)      $1
Central American Dollar (8R)      $1
Florin (Southern German States)      40¢
Florin (Austrian Empire)      48.5¢
Specie Dollar (Norway & Sweden)      $1.06
Specie Dollar (Denmark)      $1.05
Thaler (Prussia, Germany)      69¢
Pound (N. Scotia, N. Brunswick, Newfoundland, Can.      $4
Franc (France, Belgium, Livre of Sardinia)      18. 6-10¢
Ducat (Naples)      80¢
Piastre (Turkey)      4.2-5¢
5 Franc (France)      93¢ *87.5¢ (Other reports)
Rupee (Indian)      40¢

If anyone needs a citation of sources, please send me a PM. Keep in mind that period accounts and archaeological finds indicate a higher likelihood of US, domestic Californian or Latin American coinage appears to be the most commonly carried. That being said, all these denominations are documented as being carried and exchanged in busy Eastern seaports as well as the gold fields of California.

-Dave




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

[Mogorilla]

great stuff as always Dave.   I have loads of paper currency from the era that I cleaned up and printed.  I have been looking to get some coin as well.  here is a place I found.
http://www.coinsofourpast.com/coinpages/cagoldcoinpage.html

[Tsalagidave]

This is a good source. I know the owner of this company; she's a nice person to do business with.  A little trivia about this company is that it used to make the coins for the Pieces of Eight store at Disneyland. I highly recommend coins because they were more versatile and trustworthy than banknotes.

[Advertising]

[Professor Marvel]

Excellent article Dave! Can you expound upon the "specie" , and have you found what was most commonly carried by the average person?
What about "letters of credit" ?

yhs
prof Marvel

[Tsalagidave]

Hi Prof,

Thanks for the kind words. Specie is typically metal coinage as opposed to print currency. In nineteenth century vernacular, it was usually a specific reference to gold or silver.  Letters of credit were generally established between an individual and local establishments proprietorship who was well acquainted and felt confident on giving advances in goods and services on the good faith that they would be paid back in a timely manner.

Interestingly, copper really never had a great deal of travel value. Copper coinage was not popular in the western states and even during ancient times, coppers typically had value only in their home regions of issue. The two period references (from 1854) didn't even bother mentioning copper coinage from foreign lands as it was virtually worthless abroad.

The typical medium of exchange in the Western States has been hard currency of either gold or silver coin. Relatively few banks had a currency that was accepted beyond the parameters of its local district. The Canal Banknotes I featured in the picture were a rare exception that were well circulated along the Mississippi and Gulf Coast. However, the best means of converting them as far away as San Francisco would likely be to exchange them with a larger banking firm such as Wells Fargo or Page Bacon & Co. which would be a time-consuming process. People generally did not like dealing in banknotes because if the bank went under, the note lost its worth and became a "broken banknote".

I also have included small fractional banknotes issued by the Miner's Bank Assay Office. These are examples of script that were circulated locally but essentially worthless beyond the region of San Francisco. The use of bank checques was also a fairly common process. Large chain banking and express firms like Wells, Adams and Page/Bacon made the process more easily practicable and surprisingly effecient.

The picture below shows the typical contents of a Californian's wallet. There is a mixture of silver coinage (both US and Mexican) along with California fractional gold pieces, dollars, quarter and half eagles.