Rare 1793 Federal Currency Conversion Table

A table for reducing the Lawful Money of Massachusetts to Dollars, Cents, & Mills autograph document. [Massachusetts], n.d. [1793]. 1 page, on watermarked laid paper, approx. 13 x 7 in. Partial, lower portion torn away. Appears to be a currency conversion table from Pounds, Shillings, Pence to Dollars, Cents and Mills.

A detailed table providing exchange rates from the "Lawful Money of Massachusetts" into Dollars. The document dates from circa 1793 when Massachusetts's state currency depreciated and was replaced with Federal Currency. Colonial Massachusetts used £sd system of its own issue. Subject to high inflation, Massachusetts withdrew its paper money in 1749 before resuming issuance after the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775. After the Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the United States dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, Massachusetts abandoned its state currency in favor of the dollar. While documents such as these must have been necessities during the period of transition, we have never encountered another example.

[Revolutionary War, Colonial America, Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Financial History, Numismatics, Currency]