Money paper and Reales during the Old West

[Longmire]

Hi everybody!

As I wrote on my introduction topic, I'm searching for informations about the money/currency during the Old West period (about 1840-1900).

In particular, I would have two questions for your:

1) In the OW circulated many Spanish/Mexicans coins, like the famous Reales and Pesos. I know that 1 Peso = 8 reales = 1 dollar and that circulated small pieces (reales) called "bit" (12,5 cents), "half bit", "two bits" (25 cents) and "piece of eight" (1 dollar). I also know that a peso was cut in pieces (the bits) and my question is: the coins that circulated were the physical piece of the peso or any value (bit, half bit, etc.) had a coin? I mean, the men used the conical pieces of the peso or there were a coin for any value?

2) How much diffused was the money paper during the OW? I know that circulated dollars coins but I don't know almost nothing about the money paper (greenbacks).

Thank you for your patience

 

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[Phanntom]

I'm no expert on paper money, but I had a long conversation with the owner of a coin shop in Glendale, CA about 15 years ago that ended up including this subject, along with others. He said there was very little paper money in the West back then for several reasons. First, was, the metal "dollars" were more durable than paper and given most people lived a pretty coarse existence, the paper was too fragile. Another and bigger reason was that back then, much of the paper money was issued by banks, not the central treasury and because in those days, banks came and went with the seasons, so few trusted them.

One also has to remember, $5 was a lot of money back in those days so it wasn't as it would be today if you had to carry around $100 in Silver Dollars...few people ever had $100 and surely didn't carry it around in dollar coins. Maybe that's why suspenders (braces) were more popular than belts in those days.

 

[Longmire]

Hi Phanntom, your reply is fantastic!!! Thank you so much! I hope this thread could be also a good "conversation" about the money in general (and, why not, everyday life aspects connected with it) during the OW

 

[coinman123]

Money was pretty much based on bullion back then, if you cut a reale in half you would have half a reale worth of silver, which would be legal tender, some businesses accepted gold nuggets and other raw gold as payment, most businesses accepted any coin that would have a standard mass of silver. For example, a Mexican peso would have had the same amount of silver as a US dollar and would have been accepted. Paper money was backed by metal and if you had a $1 note it would have been the same as having $1 worth of physical silver. Though most people preferred silver for small amounts of money, and gold for slightly larger, but if you were buying a house you would have used paper due to convenience. Paper was looked at more skeptical because it was really silver or gold just paper with no real value other than what ever was printed on it.

I Hope I Helped,
Coinman123,