It sounds as if determining the worth of 720 pounds of tobacco needs to be  
considered from more than one direction. If the records still exist, there may  
be a few lists around that haven't been checked as often as taxes and  census.
 
Were debts in the early 1700's paid with tangible goods or by notes on  paper 
such as modern banking methods?
 
Did tobacco in Westmoreland Co VA have to be transported very far to an  
inspection station before being shipped to the coast for exportation? Was the  
tobacco containerized right after inspection or just before being loaded onto  
the ship to England? (Which would help determine if the county actually  had 
containers on hand for use in paying fines.)
 
Since a 1000 lb container of tobacco would have to broken into for  payment 
of 720 lbs, the noting of it in a bank account/storage  account (such as the 
institutions found in Petersburg and Norfolk?) would  seem necessary.  Possibly 
records from these exist? Otherwise a physical  transfer of a wagonload or two 
of loose tobacco took place?
 
Wouldn't you have to take into consideration the stage of the journey  before 
assigning a value?  A pound of tabacco would very much be value  added if the 
cost were determined at point of export instead of just after the  first 
inspection. I wouldn't think that tobacco in the field would be used,  since there 
would be too much that could happen to the crop that would affect  the value.
 
If 720 lbs represented the yield for a certain amount of acreage per  season, 
you could well be seriously crippling the income of a small landowner  with a 
fine of that size. 
 
What possibly surviving records am I leaving out?
 
Janice
 
 
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