-Pennsylvania-18_Jun_1764.jpg/2880px-US-Colonial_(PA-115)-Pennsylvania-18_Jun_1764.jpg)
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A banknote for three pence, or 1/80 of a Pennsylvania pound, the currency of colonial Pennsylvania. Created as a response to the global economic downturn caused by the 1720 collapse of the South Sea Company, the currency was worth 25% less than sterling. It was discontinued in 1793 in favor of the United States dollar. This note was signed by Thomas Wharton and printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall.
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17 comments:
I like the idea that "global economic downturns" go back at least 400 years.
Central Banks were the rulers' tools then and they still are. The day that currency is declared illegal is the day we are all bondsmen again to whoever controls the computers.
Rob McLean said...
I like the idea that "global economic downturns" go back at least 400 years.
Yeah, much farther back.
It's no Boggs Bill but quite proper printing for the period.
Fiat money is funny.
"A banknote for three pence, or 1/80 of a Pennsylvania pound,"
Back when people could do arithmetic in their head.
And to think that it was Benjamin Franklin who said that a penny saved is 1/240th of a Pennsylvania Pound earned!
How weird is that?
Perhaps I should add that my attempts at a creditable Mike Pence joke failed miserably.
@traditionalguy: Central Banks were the rulers' tools then and they still are. The day that currency is declared illegal is the day we are all bondsmen again to whoever controls the computers.
Alas, yes.
This is a setup for a Trumpence joke.
Rob McLean said...
I like the idea that "global economic downturns" go back at least 400 years.
7/20/16, 9:47 AM
Even more
http://m.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/340137/jewish/Josephs-Wisdom.htm
Scotland (distant memory) had private bank currency for quite a while, and it worked okay. Competition kept the currency honest, as well as a lot of the owners' capital being at risk if the bank goes under.
Print too many of your dollars and nobody accepts your dollars and you're out of business.
The Bank of England shut it down.
This seems like a good time to highly recommend The Ethics of Money Production.
rhhardin: Scotland (distant memory) had private bank currency for quite a while, and it worked okay. Competition kept the currency honest, as well as a lot of the owners' capital being at risk if the bank goes under.
That story, as well as many others, is told well in Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles, which I also highly recommend.
Is that going to be our new currency is Lady Hillary wins?
And here I thought after seeing the headline, that I would scroll down and see a 16oz bag of Utz. MMMmmm, potatoes ...
Is that going to be our new currency is Lady Hillary wins?
nope...monopoly money.......
"Is that going to be our new currency is Lady Hillary wins?"
Currency? We won't need no stinking currency. All our possesions are belong to her.
@traditionalguy:Central Banks were the rulers' tools then and they still are.
Metal won't save you. The Norman kings of England used to impose moneyage, which was a tax levied as an alternative to the king debasing the currency.
Fat Tony can come into your bar with his goombahs, drink all night, and make you take poker chips from his casino in payment if he likes.
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