Before the Coinage Act of 1857: How Americans Spent their Foreign Money

Instructor: Jesse Kraft

This talk focuses on the way foreign money circulated on a day-to-day basis. Whether converting money from one currency to another, pricing goods in “shillings/pence” into the 19th century, or constantly worrying about counterfeits, Americans depended on a common “toolbox” of methods to navigate this complex system.