Massachusetts pound
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The pound was the currency of the
The paper money issued in colonial Massachusetts was denominated in £sd, although it was worth less than sterling. Initially, six shillings were equal to one Spanish dollar. After years of high inflation, in 1749 Massachusetts withdrew its paper money from circulation and returned to specie.
Massachusetts resumed issuing paper money after the
Coins
Shillings were issued in denominations of 3 and 6 pence and 1 shilling. The first pieces bore the letters "NE" and the denomination "III", "VI" or "XII". The coins (
Later pieces, struck between 1652 and 1660 or 1662, bore the image of a willow tree,[3] with an oak tree[4] appearing on coins produced between 1660 or 1662 and c. 1667. However, the most famous design was the final one to be issued, the pine tree type, struck between c. 1667 and 1682.[5] The coins circulated widely in North America and the Caribbean.The shillings nearly all bore the date "1652". This was the date of the
Paper money
Starting on December 20, 1690,[7] paper money was issued, denominated in £sd. The notes were printed from engraved copper plates (probably the work of silversmith Jeremiah Dummer).[8] The earliest known note was printed on February 13, 1691, with the date of "Feb. 3, 1690" based on the "old style" English calendar.[7]
The pine tree shillings were initially worth 9d sterling. However, the value of this first issue of notes declined relative to silver coins and, in 1704, the "Old Tenor" notes were introduced, again at a value of 1 Massachusetts shilling = 9d sterling. The value of these notes also declined and they were followed, in 1737, by the "Middle Tenor" issue, worth 3 times the Old Tenor notes, and, in 1741, by the "New Tenor" issue, worth 4 times the Old Tenor notes. In 1759, all previous issues were replaced by the "Colonial" issue, worth 10 times the Old Tenor notes.
References
- ^ Newman, The Early Paper Money of the America, 185–86.
- ^ N E Coinage Introduction
- ^ Willow Tree Introduction
- ^ Oak Tree Introduction
- ^ Pine Tree Coinage Introduction
- the pine tree shilling, "1652" (struck 1667-1674)
- ^ a b Andrew McFarland Davis, Currency and Banking in the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, Volume 1, Issue 4 (American Economic Association, 1900) pp.10, 370
- ^ Doty, R. G. (April 2006). "When Money Was Different". www.common-place.org. Retrieved December 21, 2009.