BILLS OF CREDIT! March 23, 1768 at the Colden Store, Coldengham, New York

Wednesday March 23, 1768
Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.

Bills of Credit

Colden debited a series of 'bills' to Samuel White on this day, 250 years ago. These were apparently not British notes of currency, as Britain did not have a 5£ note in 1768.  The 5£ bills were "Bills of Credit" issued by a colonial government, most likely by the colony of New York.

The Currency Act of 1764 allowed the colonies to use Bills of Credit as legal tender to pay taxes, but not to pay a merchant. In this case, the DayBook clearly states that these were payments from Colden to White for Wheat that had previously been delivered (although there is no prior transaction in the DayBook showing a 'Credit' to White's account for Wheat delivered.) Perhaps the British restrictions on colonial currency were already being ignored?

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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.

Colden debited many payments of cash to his customers in the DayBook. There were almost 200 cash payments in the prior six months. However, none of them specified that the cash was paid in bills of a certain denomination.

The entry above indicates that Colden "Paid him on acct of  Wheat Recd...viz..." The transcription in the database is shown below. Note that 'D^o' is an abbreviation of 'Ditto' which transcribes to the prior item, or 'bills.'

There were two 5-pound bills (see example below), six 32-and-one-half shilling bills, and one 5-shilling bill.

Below is an example of a five pound bill of credit issued in 1759 by the colony of New York.

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