Paul,

At the 1996 South Carolina Genealogical Society's Annual Workshop, Robert Y. Clay, then the Genealogical Reference Archivist of the Library of Virginia, said the deed references of different types of currency only indicated the currency with the highest rate at that time. Has this guideline changed?

Joy


Ms. Joy.  I make it a practice to not be critical of another family history buff, no matter his/her credentials or station.  Thus, I can but say that if your source used the words "currency with the highest rate", then he greatly oversimplified, just as I seem to have done.  

So, let's be finished with the matter as follows: The law of contracts has for centuries provided remedies in some measure for what is known as "failure of consideration".  If you paid me in some certain currency for some land, I accepted that settlement because you assured me it would be honored by the issuer, I was reasonable in so believing, and you were intentionally deceptive in your representations, the court might set aside our bargain and give me back the land I sold you to you.  

To obviate that possibility, it has long been - and IS now - the privilege of a seller to demand as he pleases concerning in what medium (and how, when and where) the purchase money must be paid to him by his buyer.   

So, across the centuries and down to well into the 20th, the various substances/commodities/metals/paper used as "money" (everything from gold or silver coin, to wampum, tobacco, and coon skins) had to be acceptable to sellers.  BUT, those assets of settlement demanded by the seller equally had to be handily available to the buyer in order that he meet sellers' demands, or there would/could be no bargain and sale.

There were NO currency exchanges and NO banks as we know such to be.  Accordingly, the settlement medium had not only to be to be available to the seller, it had to be trusted as well as understood by BOTH parties to any bargain.  Since the communication across distances was so slow and tedious, those engaged in ordinary bargains, such as buying and selling land, crops, horses, etc., quite usually used that settlement "currency" that was available nearby and handy to the parties.

It is from those uncomplicated everyday bargains that we often may infer the "where" of the deal and the residence of the parties.  One example will suffice; if you and I are in NC in 1760, and I want to buy your land, the likelihood is great that the "currency" you demand in the deed will be "Proclamation Money" (issued by NC colony), however were you to not trust that "money" (many did not), you might have asked if I could pay "silver coin".  If that was available to me without great difficulty, I might so agree, or I might offer, instead, 300 Spanish Reales or 60000 lb. of tobacco.  Whatever we settled on would be written into the deed for the protection of both parties, but particularly for the buyer.  

Whatever our bargain, you the seller went away from the "closing" knowing that if my money turned out to be worth less than you had presumed, you are simply out of luck, since it was YOU, as seller, who had the privilege of setting forth the acceptable medium of settlement as "consideration" and if you erred in that decision, it is YOUR fault.  

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joy King 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 3:37 PM
  Subject: Re: Taxes


  Paul,

  At the 1996 South Carolina Genealogical Society's Annual Workshop, Robert Y.
  Clay, then the Genealogical Reference Archivist of the Library of Virginia,
  said the deed references of different types of currency only indicated the
  currency with the highest rate at that time. Has this guideline changed?

  Joy


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