Craig—According to John McCusker in Money and Exchange in Europe and America p. 7 “the premier coin in the Atlantic world in the 17th and 18th centuries was the Spanish peso, or piastra--the piece of eight that in the 17th C. came to be called the dollar and later became the basic unit of the monetary system of the US”—I have seen dollars in other inventories I think. McCusker provides exchange values of all those currencies, so you could figure out what the total price was that was being paid for Sinah, if need be—Mick Nicholls
Michael L. Nicholls
Professor of History, Emeritus
Dept. of History
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-0710

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> On Oct 7, 2015, at 2:34 PM, Craig Kilby <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> This is a first. I am looking at a bill of sale dated 6 Jul 1764 in Lancaster County from John Kent, Jr. to Abraham White for a slave girl named Sinah. The consideration is given as “thirty two dollars and twenty five pounds current money of Virginia.” DOLLARS in 1764? 
> 
> Craig Kilby
> Kilby Research Services
> www.craigkilby.com
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