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THE ORNATE CHARM OF EARLY AMERICAN CURRENCY
It's nice to see mainstream publications feature interesting numismatic items. On April 22, 2016 an article by Eric Grundhauser in
Atlas Obscura highlighted several colonial otes from the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian. -Editor
With Harriet Tubman coming to the American $20 bill, and other changes being made to the look of money in the United States, the design of dollars is once again set to evolve. But our current bills still hold many of the symbols and motifs that existed in our earliest paper money, the Colonial and Continental currencies. Back then, when the bills were being produced by each of the colonies, they were both wilder and more elaborate. Incorporating early versions of the filigree and emblems, like the pyramid, still found in American currency today, these proto-dollars are terrific artifacts from a more primitive economy. Until 1797, they did not even use the "$" symbol, which had to be invented by a bankrupt Irishman first. Take a look at some of the most gorgeous money from the 1700s.
Here are just a few of the illustrated notes. See the complete article online for more. -Editor
To read the complete article, see:
Atlas Obscura also published (on April 24, 2016) an article about the variety of American figures found on our banknotes. -Editor
To read the complete article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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