FIPS AND COPPER CENTS IN 1845

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 39, September 24, 2017, Article 11

FIPS AND COPPER CENTS IN 1845

Jim Lyons of Mountain View, CA is a retired dealer in historical newspapers. I bought a number of numismatic-themed items from him over the years. He brought my attention to this item of his web site. Thanks! -Editor

Taken from the Boston Daily Transcript, Sept 4, 1845.

Note: in 1845 the copper cent was about the size of today's half dollar and thicker. Apparently the "fip" was a half dime. (The "nickel" we know today wasn’t introduced until 1866. Before that there existed a silver half dime, which was, obviously, smaller and thinner than a dime.)

Jim adds:

Here are my two websites. The first is obsolete but has a lot of historical articles, photos, etc. The second is new and is meant for genealogists using old newspapers and photos.

www.jimlyons.com
http://jimlyons.weebly.com

Both sites are worth a look. The first organizes articles into several broad topics including Animal Stories, American Indians, Civil War, Detecting Reprints, and Preservation of newspapers and other paper items. -Editor

To read the complete article, see:
#2 - Newspapers & Photo Quiz,June 4, 2016. : Taken from the Boston Daily Transcript, Sept 4, 1845. (http://jimlyons.weebly.com/blogs-1-to-7.html)

A quick search for "fip" in the Newman Numismatic Portal located an article by Jim Laughlin in the July 2015 E-Gobrecht titled "Of Fips, Bits, and Picayunes… Some coin terms of the 1840s and 1850s" -Editor

In Ohio, in 1844 and previously, there was a good deal of foreign coin in circulation, mostly Spanish, with some of the old state coinage of different states occasionally making its appearance. One of the most plentiful of these foreign coins was a piece which passed current for 6 1/4 cents. In Ohio this was known as a fippenny bit, a contraction, probably, of fivepenny bit. The half dimes of American coinage were also becoming frequent at that time, and as a distinction between the half dime and the fippenny bit, the former was contracted to the word "fip."

To read the complete article, see:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/513849?page=11

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

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE