Money Monikers

By Kathy Kovach

While watching the 133rd Tournament of Roses Parade this year, I learned something new. A “horseless carriage”, upon which our modern-day shuttle bus was designed, entered the route. The hosts bantered their trivia facts, calling it a jitney. As I’m a lover of middle 19th to middle 20th century, I knew the term. I didn’t know it was named after the amount of currency it took to ride the shuttle. One nickel, or jitney as the coin was nicknamed then. Thus, the fare cost a jitney to ride a jitney.

This got me to pondering about slang terms for money. Thanks to gangster movies, I can hear Bugsy demanding his share of the loot, the moola, the smackers. “It’s gonna cost ya 50 Gs if ya want me and the boys to protect your business.” That alleviated the business owner of his last fifty thousand dollars, one thousand being a grand, or "G." Smackers, by the way, is enough money to smack someone in the face with.

Some money terms center around food.

Bread, or dough, comes from our need for nutrition. The prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” can be taken figuratively or literally, as it takes money to pay for bread. We ask God for the means to provide for our family. The term “breadwinner” gained popularity in the 1940s, strengthening the use of the term of the starchy substance.

Cabbage, lettuce, and celery, have all been used to describe a wad of bills due to the color.

Bacon is another food word to define money. “Bring home the bacon,” for instance. It was first quoted in the September 3rd, 1906 Reno Evening Gazette regarding the boxer Joe Gans. Upon his win, the announcer read a telegram from Gans’s mother. “Everybody says you ought to win. Peter Jackson will tell me the news and you bring back the bacon.”

Come to think of it, if you put together bread, lettuce, and bacon, you have three quarters of a BLT. Tomato is the missing ingredient, but Bugsy had a different meaning for that juicy fruit. It meant “girl” in his day.

Some slang suggested a form of barter.

Clams, for instance, comes from a time when clamshells were used as currency, particularly among the Native Americans from the California region. The Miwok people bartered and traded with strings of clamshells. Wampum is another term the paleface adopted, which originated with our indigenous people, taken from the word wampumpeag.

You may have heard the term two bits, which is a quarter. This comes from the Spanish 8 Reales, or “pieces of eight” coin on which the U.S dollar was initially based. One bit is equal to one eighth of a dollar, or twelve-and-a-half cents. Therefore, two bits is twenty-five cents and four bits is fifty cents. Rare are the six bits at seventy-five cents and eight bits which comprises the whole dollar.

Scratch and simolean are interesting nicknames. The former may have come from the phrase “starting from scratch.” Around the turn of the 20th century, the scratch line was drawn during sporting events, such as a race, boxing, or cricket. That’s where one started from. Used for money, starting from scratch means starting from the beginning, essentially, from nothing. It was later shortened to mean a small amount change. “Hey buddy, ya got some scratch ya could lend me?” This is a variation of, "Hey buddy, can you spare a dime?"

Simolean, which is my favorite on this list, is thought to be a combination of words. The word simon is slang for the British sixpence and was later used for the American dollar. A napoleon is a form of French currency. Our friend Bugsy used it back in the 30s when discussing his latest monetary acquisition. "Yeah, I cleaned him out, I tell ya. I got all the simoleans. All the beans. Nothin' left in the guy's pocket but some lint and an old racing card."

As I mentioned earlier, other names stem from the appearance of money. For instance, greenback is literally a dollar bill with a green back, the other side printed in black and white. In the mid-1800s, Congress authorized the U.S. Department of the Treasury to issue over $400 million in legal tender to finance the American Civil War. These non-interest-bearing Demand Notes didn’t have the secure backing of gold and silver and were looked down upon by banks who were reluctant to give the full value to customers. However, all U.S. currency issued since 1861 remains valid and redeemable at full face value.

Sawbuck is also a term based on the look of what is on the dollar. If you picture a sawhorse, which in the olden days was merely two pieces of wood lashed together to form an “X,” you can imagine that image in the form of a large Roman numeral seen on the early $10 bill. Saw, for sawhorse, and buck, the slang word for dollar.

Slang is fun, and learning where certain words came from is entertainment in itself. Can you use these words in a sentence? Make Bugsy proud and use your best New York gangster accent.

• Shekel
• Benjamin
• Boodle
• Cha-ching
• Chump change
• Stash

Bugsy

Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal
A secret. A key. Much was buried on the Titanic, but now it's time for resurrection.



Follow two intertwining stories a century apart. 1912 - Matriarch Olive Stanford protects a secret after boarding the Titanic that must go to her grave. 2012 - Portland real estate agent Ember Keaton-Jones receives the key that will unlock the mystery of her past... and her distrusting heart.

To buy: Amazon

Kathleen E. Kovach is a Christian romance author published traditionally through Barbour Publishing, Inc. as well as indie. Kathleen and her husband, Jim, raised two sons while living the nomadic lifestyle for over twenty years in the Air Force. Now planted in northeast Colorado, she's a grandmother, though much too young for that. Kathleen is a longstanding member of American Christian Fiction Writers. An award-winning author, she presents spiritual truths with a giggle, proving herself as one of God's peculiar people.


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PIECES OF EIGHT

Have you ever heard the term “pieces of eight”? What are they?

When I was young, I watched reruns of the original Mickey Mouse Club. As part of the shows, they had episodes of a mystery drama. I remember two things about it, the kids in the story were searching for treasure, and the song for the serial story ended in a deep voice singing “pieces of eight”.

What about “two-bits, four-bits, six-bits, a dollar”? I remember this cheer from high school. “Two-bits, four-bits, six-bits, a dollar, all for [insert school name], stand up and holler.”

“Pieces of eight” and “two-bits-four-bits-etc” refer to the same thing. Well, not the cheer.

Way back when, this started with the Spanish milled silver dollar.

England prohibited the early American colonies from minting coins. The settlers were left with bartering, using foreign coins, and trading with local currency such as wampum (cylindrical beads made from quahog shells used as money).

The American colonies, having no minted money of their own, used currency from many other countries.

The Spanish milled dollar was, by far, the most commonly circulated coin in the United States and considered legal tender until the Coinage Act of 1857.

It’s edges were “milled”, or patterned, to prevent people from shaving silver from the edges unnoticed. Coins were valued by their weight rather than “face value” as they are today.

But what’s a person to do when they wanted to buy something that costs less than a dollar?

Since the Spanish dollar was valued by weight, it was often divide into eight pieces called “reals” or “bits”.

So, this milled dollar was also known as a “Piece of Eight.”

Thus, “two bits” meant a quarter of a dollar. So, by dividing a coin like the milled dollar, a person could spend part of the coin in one place and another part elsewhere.

The coin would be divided in half and be a half dollar . . .

. . . in quarters for a quarter of a dollar . . .

. . . and eighths for one real or one bit. 

Pieces of Eight were the world’s first global currency.

Though contemporary U.S. Currency is based on the silver Spanish Milled Dollar, when the young United States began minting their own currency, they went to the decimal system and divided the dollar into one hundred.

The eight-bit Spanish dollar is not the same as a doubloon, which is what we generally associate with pirates. The doubloon, also minted by Spain, is a 32-reals/bits gold coin. Four Spanish milled silver dollars would be worth the same as one doubloon. So, if someone refers to a doubloon as “pieces of eight”, that would be incorrect.

The pictures of my coins in this post are reproductions made of pewter, but they have a similar weight and appearance of the original Spanish Miller Dollar.

I love playing with my replica Spanish Milled Dollars and pieces of eight. How would you like to have a pocket full of these sharp edges?

For more information on the background of money in recent history (1500s & forward), this site has some interesting information and can be a jumping off point for further research.

COMING SOON

THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT ~ A sweet historical romance that will tug at your heart. This is book 1 in the Quilting Circle series.
Washington State, 1893
     When Lily Lexington Bremmer arrives in Kamola with her young son, she’s reluctant to join the social center of her new community, the quilting circle, but the friendly ladies pull her in. She begins piecing a sunshine and shadows quilt because it mirrors her life. She has a secret that lurks in the shadows and hopes it doesn’t come out into the light. Dark places in her past are best forgotten, but her new life is full of sunshine. Will her secrets cast shadows on her bright future?
     Widower Edric Hammond and his father are doing their best to raise his two young daughters. He meets Lily and her son when they arrive in town and helps her find a job and a place to live. Lily resists Edric’s charms at first but finds herself falling in love with this kind, gentle man and his two darling daughters. Lily has stolen his heart with her first warm smile, but he’s cautious about bringing another woman into his girls’ lives due to the harshness of their own mother.
     Can Edric forgive Lily her past to take hold of a promising chance at love?
THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT is now available at a low, pre-order price. This book releases in ebook on July 1, and will be out in paperback by mid-June.

#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January, Courting Her Amish Heart in March, The Widow’s Plight in July, Courting Her Secret Heart September, & “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in MISSAdventure Brides Collection in December. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-three years and two cats. She has three adult children and one incredibly adorable grandchild. Find her online at:
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Money in the Old West

By Vickie McDonough

“Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar, all for our team, stand up and holler.” Remember that catchy cheer from your junior high football days? Did you ever wonder what it meant? How about the phrase “a little bit?” Both are references to a form of money used in the 19^th century.

Bartering was a commonly accepted way of exchanging goods and services in the West for many decades. Trappers swapped pelts for necessities like tobacco, clothing, ammunition, and food. Indians traded for anything from jewelry and cooking pots to slaves and horses. Early settlers often had little cash and also bartered for food, clothing, and goods. Two of the most traded items in the West were eggs and milk.

Handling money must have been a headache for early 19^th century businessmen. Coins in circulation throughout the U.S. included Russian kopecks, Dutch rix-dollars, and French and English coins. The Spanish real was commonly used throughout the United States in the early to mid 19^th century and was known as a “bit” in the West and worth 12 ½ cents. Two bits later became known as a quarter. The half-bit, also known as the fip, picayune, or medio was worth 6 ¼ cents and used mostly in Louisiana.

Double eagle coin - front and back

Other commonly used coins were an “eagle,” a gold coin worth $10. It had a Liberty head with a coronet on the front and a heraldic eagle on the back. The “double eagle” equaled $20 in value and had the same design as the “eagle” except the word “twenty” was embossed on the side with the eagle design. The “half eagle” was worth $5 and the “quarter eagle” equal to $2.50.

The silver dollar, known as the trade dollar, was also widely used. “In God We Trust” was added in 1872. 


The “slug,” a $50 gold piece, was used mainly in California, but also circulated in the rest of the United States. During the 1850s, a Liberty head gold dollar became readily available.

Prior to 1861, all paper money was issued by private or State Banks, often with little funding available. The notes could be redeemed for coin at the above-board banks, but notes issued by dishonest banks, called Wildcat banks, were worth little or nothing. In 1863, National Bank notes replaced State notes.

Needless to say, there were countless other coins and paper money printed, but this will give you a basic understanding of money used in the Old West.

(Information was obtained from The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West and The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s)

Pioneer Christmas Collection--Journey along with American settlers who learn that despite where the trail takes them or how primitive their lodgings may be, Christmas is all about the heart. Determined to honor Christ's birth, these pioneers find a way to make Christmas happen in places like a cave, a tipi, and a dugout. Modern readers will enjoy a peek into life before commercialism took over the sacred day, distracting us from the true blessings of faith, hope, and love. Enjoy nine original novellas of Christmas romance as penned from many of today's leading Christian authors, including Lauraine Snelling, Margaret Brownley, Kathleen Fuller, and Vickie McDonough.

Vickie McDonough is an award-winning author of 28 books and novellas. Her novels include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series and the 3rd & 6th books in the Texas Trails series. Her novel, Long Trail Home, won the Inspirational category of the 2012 Booksellers’ Best Awards. Whispers on the Prairie, the first book in an exciting new series set in 1870s Kansas released in July and is a Romantic Times Recommended Read.