SOUND CURRENCY REFORM CLUB Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 44, October 31, 2004, Article 6
SOUND CURRENCY REFORM CLUB
Tom's request for information on Panic scrip is timely.
A few weeks ago I acquired an interesting pair of volumes
for my library. They are bound volumes of Sound Money,
a periodical produced by the Sound Currency Committee
of the Reform Club (Vol II/III, 1895/1896, Vols VI/VII,
1899/1900).The Reform Club was an organization formed during the
great "currency question" debates of the William Jennings
Bryan presidential candidacies. Although I generally shy
away from the literature of this era for fear that the politics
distorts the writing, I was delighted to find a number of
straightforward articles relating to the history of money and
currency. The one which first caught my eye is in the
February 15, 1895 issue (Vol. II, No. 6), titled "The
Currency Famine of 1893" by John Dewitt Warner. The
20-page article illustrates 48 specimens of the 1893 panic
scrip. I've never seen this many 1893 notes illustrated in
one place - this may be the most comprehensive listing
ever compiled prior to the work now underway.Other articles in the volume discuss the bank currency of
various states, Canada and Scotland, as well as compilations
of coinage laws. The March 15, 1896 issue (Vol. III, No. 8)
has an 8-page page article by Simon W. Rosendale on
"Wampum Currency: The Story Told by the Colonial
Ordinances of New Netherlands."- 2004-10-31
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