EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CURRENCIES AND EXCHANGE RATES

 

 

German Currency:

 

1 Gulden (= fl; gold, after circa 1500 silver)  = 60 Kreuzer

 

1 fl rhein.	= 15 Batzen	= 60 Kreuzer	= 240 Denar	= 480 Heller
1 Albus	= 1 1/2 Batzen	=   6 Kreuzer	=   24 Denar	=   48 Heller
1 Batzen		=   4 Kreuzer	=   16 Denar	=   32 Heller
1 Groschen		=   3 Kreuzer	=   12 Denar	=   24 Heller
1 Kreuzer			=     4 Denar	=     8 Heller
1 Denar				=    2 Heller

1 Königstaler:    1 fl 20 Kreuzer rhein.

1 Laubtaler:       2 fl 45 Kreuzer rhein.

1 Dukaten:         5 fl rhein. (since 1559)

1 Karolin:         11 fl

 

 

French Currency:

 

Louis  (Gold)	= 20 livres   (24 livres after 1726)	= 480 sous	=   7200 denier
Livre   (Silver)		=   20 sous	=     300 denier
Sous    (Copper)			=       15 denier
Denier (Copper)
Ecu (silver)	= 3 livres	=  60 sous	=     900 denier

Franc  =  1 livre, an administrative unit only

English Currency:

 

Pound Sterling  (silver)	= 20 Shillings	= 240 Pennies	= 480 Ha'pennies	=  960 Farthings
Shilling  (Silver)		=   12 Pennies	=   24 Ha'pennies	=    48 Farthings
Groat  (Silver)		=     4 Pennies	=     8 Ha'pennies	=   16 Farthings
Penny  (Copper)			=    2 Ha'pennies	=     4 Farthings
Ha'penny  (Copper)				=     2 Farthings
Farthing  (Brass)
Guinee (Gold)				= 21 shillings (after 1707)
Crown (Silver)				=    5 shillings

Souvereign                      = £ 1 Gold coin, introduced in 1817

In 1849, a silver florin was introduced, worth 2 shillings.

     In the cash-starved colonies in North America, Spanish coinage was widely used.

Spanish Currency:

 

Doubloon  (Gold)	=  8 Escudos	= 4 Pistols	= 16 Pieces of Eight	= 128 Reals
Pistol (Gold)	=  2 Escudos		=   4 Pieces of Eight	=   32 Reals
Escudo  (Gold)			=  2 Pieces Of Eight	=   16 Reals
Piece Of Eight  (Gold)	=  1 Peso			=     8 Reals
Real   (Silver)	=  8 Copper Pesos
Peso   (Copper)

Piaster (gold)      = 8 Reales = 1 Piece of Eight = 1 Spanish Milled Dollar = 1 Peso

 

 

Portuguese Currency:

Johannes (Gold, 1722)	=  1/2 Dobra	= 1/2 Doubloon	= 4 Escudos	= 8 Pieces of Eight
	=   64 Reals	= 36s sterling (called a Half-Joe in America)

     The chief trade coin of the American colonies was the Spanish Milled Dollar or Piece of Eight and the Spanish Pistole worth 12s. 2.8 pence (=d) sterling.

 

     There was a substantial difference in the trade value of these coins between England and her colonies. In England the Spanish milled dollar was worth anywhere between 4s. 3d. and 4s. 6d. st., up to 4 s 9 d. st. In New York, however, the Spanish milled dollar was rated by custom at 8s.; in Pennsylvania at 7s. 6d. in Delaware at 7s. 6d. and in Virginia the Spanish milled dollar was worth 6s. 8d. by 1764. Even English coins were valued higher in the colonies: the silver crown, worth 5s. in England, was rated at 6s. 3d. by the Virginia Act of 1727.

 

     How did these currencies relate to each other? In 1764, Richard Wolters, British agent in Rotterdam, reckoned 1 Pistole at 17s. 2d.st., or 4s. 3.5d. st. per Piece of Eight. [1] In a letter of May 1780, Axel von Fersen wrote that 1 Piastre/Piece of Eight/Peso was worth 6 livres = 62 pennies = 5 s 2 d in America. Since he only payed 5 livres 5 sous  = 4 shilling 5 pence in Brest, he hoped to make a profit upon arrival in Newport. Georg Daniel Flohr gave the value of 1 Spanish dollar at 2 fl 20 Kreuzer rhein., and according to Harris, "the British pound sterling was equal to 23.17 livres tournois" during the 1780s. [2] The Abbé Robin, a chaplain in one of Rochambeau's regiments in turn gave the value of a shilling in New England in the summer of 1781 as 22 sous 6 deniers or 22 livres 8 sous to the pound sterling. [3]

     While stationed in Boston in the summer of 1775, Corporal Thomas Sullivan of the British 49^th Regiment gave the value of a Spanish milled dollar at 4 s 6 d. [4]

 

     Based on the value of the Piece of Eight in England and contemporary sources as well as admitting for currency fluctuations we get the following exchange rates

 

 

1 £ Sterling	=  23 livres 3 sous 6 deniers
1 £ Sterling	~   4.5 Pieces of Eight
1 £ Sterling	~ 9 fl 30 Kreuzer rhein.
1 Piece of Eight	=   4 shilling 5 pence
1 Piece of Eight	=   2 fl 20 Kreuzer rhein.
1 Piece of Eight	=   5 livres 5 sous
1 Livre	=  24 Kreuzer rhein.
1 Livre	=  10 pence 1.4 farthing
1 Livre	=    1 reales 1 copper peso
1 fl rhein.	=    2 s 2d st.
1 fl rhein.	=    2 livres 10 sous
1 fl rhein.	=    4 reales