BOOK REVIEW: FROM CRIME TO PUNISHMENT

Mossman, better than anyone we’ve ever read, digs deep into the historical and economic context of early American money. Mossman’s previous masterpiece, the indispensable Money of the American Colonies and Confederation (American Numismatic Society, 1993), earned him the coveted Archer B. Huntington Award.

It is a compelling blow-by-blow account of a species of money not all that familiar to many modern-day numismatists. And while that book is essential reading, its his latest turn–From Crime to Punishment: Counterfeit and Debased Coinage in Colonial and Pre-Federal America (American Numismatic Society, 2013)–that truly brings it home.

The simple fact is this: that the Spanish Milled Dollar proved to be the Coin of Our Nation’s Founders, when our forefathers were subjects of the English (and later, British) crown, speaks to the wholesale intentional failure on the part of London to circulate money in its western colonies.

The problems with money, as detailed by Mossman, were pandemic and served as a breeding ground for contempt between the English speaking colonies and the crown. By necessity, ingenious and often illegal measures were introduced and adopted in an effort to keep money circulating, each colony competing with the next to maintain some sense of solvency. England’s responses to the crises (as there were many) served as a multi-generational reminder to Americans that the crown’s attitude towards them was intractable. Before the Stamp Act led the Sons of Liberty to pitch East India Tea into Boston harbor, real, contemptible actions and inactions were thrust upon the English-speaking colonies.

And while the focus of Mossman’s present work is the production and circulation of counterfeit coins and the subsequent punishment or lack thereof of those caught in the act, the takeaway is that revolution was inevitable. By detailing these issues in a chronological and methodical fashion, Mossman brings clarity to a seemingly impenetrable issue.

He also makes the case that contemporaneous counterfeits–that is, counterfeit coins and currency produced and circulated alongside the genuine money of its day–are money, too.

Mossman’s From Crime to Punishment does not set out to be the comprehensive reference manual for every known contemporaneous colonial counterfeit coin and note. It does feature side-by-side illustrations of illicit money and the real McCoy. Some readers will find it a challenge to determine which one is the genuine item. Considering that numismatists reading the book have a 50/50 chance of spotting the fake and have the benefit of knowing that one of the depicted items is spurious, you quickly realize that farmers in Lynchburg, Virginia or tradesmen in Carlisle, Pennsylvania often had no chance.

Over the course of 264 pages, Mossman lays out the relationship these early Americans had with real and fake money, the effect fakes had on the money supply, on individuals stuck with it, and how the government either combated its proliferation or created obstacles to fully condemn it.

In the end, and whether anyone liked it or not, enough fake money circulated that it became real money by necessity. So long as the coins weren’t too shoddily made – or obviously bogus – they tended to be acceptable, especially in areas that were especially starved for means of exchange.

Philip Mossman’s From Crime to Punishment is without a doubt the most accomplished numismatic book we’ve read this year. Although it deals with a rather esoteric subject on the surface, the core material has universal applications.

To read the complete article, see: First Read: From Crime to Punishment: Counterfeit and Debased Currencies In Colonial and Pre-Federal America (www.coinweek.com/featured-news/first-read-from-crime-to-punishment-counterfeit-debased-currencies-colonial-pre-federal-america/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: NEW BOOK: FROM CRIME TO PUNISHMENT (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n34a04.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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