EE

Bad Money and the Chemical Arts in Colonial America — Study Notes

Overview

  • Article title: Bad Money and the Chemical Arts in Colonial America by Zachary Dorner. Focus on coining as a monetary practice and as a chemical/artisanal process in the British Atlantic world, especially North Carolina in 1752.
  • Core question: Was coining a heinous crime threatening monetary order, or a creative response to specie shortages? The piece argues it was both, depending on perspective and context.
  • Central case: The capture of four men near New Bern, NC, accused of making their own doubloons, pistoles, pieces of eight, and half-pistereens (a practice called coining).
  • Key takeaway: Coining illustrates the dense interplay of chemistry, medicine, labor, law, and imperial policy in the Atlantic world; scarcity shaped knowledge production and enforcement.

The Case and People Involved (1752)

  • Location and actors:
    • Forge set up in a swamp about thirty miles upriver from New Bern, NC, in a difficult, mosquito-filled area along the Neuse River.
    • Forage area linked to riverine travel routes; Dover Swamp described as hard to navigate but strategically secluded.
    • Conspirators: Daniel Johnson (alias Dixon) described as a “Chymist, or Doctor”; Patrick Moore described as a “Taylor by Trade”; William Jillet described as a “Blacksmith.”
  • Objective:
    • Produce metallic currency passing as face value though lacking the full silver/gold content, using base metals like copper, brass, or lead in combination with more valued metals.
    • Target coins included Spanish gold and silver forms (pistoles, pesos, pistareens), not necessarily British coins, given scarcity of traditional coinage.
  • Context of coining in colonial America:
    • Scarcity of specie across the colonies created demand for other currencies (foreign coins like Spanish, Portuguese, French; or paper money).
    • Coinees hoped to profit from currency variability and complexity in the colonial monetary regime.
  • Immediate enforcement context:
    • The case gained attention via the Virginia Gazette (October 1752) and other newspapers; the sheriff described the operation and the finished coins.
  • Outcomes:
    • Johnson and Jillet were executed by hanging after Patrick Moore testified against them to avoid the death penalty (treason).
    • Moore and others attempted escapes but failed; Johnson and Jillet died at gallows in October 1752.

What is Coining? Definitions and Distinctions

  • Coining vs clipping/shaving:
    • Coining: Producing new coins that pass as legitimate currency, often by creating coins from base metals and disguising them as precious metal coins.
    • Clipping/shaving: Altering existing coins to extract precious metal or alter weight, not creating new coinage.
  • Material and value dynamics:
    • The coins created aimed to pass at face value despite not containing the full amount of silver or gold; used base metals along with surface treatments to imitate higher-value coins.
  • The monetary context in NC and the broader Atlantic world:
    • Shortage of cash (specie) led colonists to rely on foreign coinage and paper currency, with cash needed for inter-imperial trade, debt settlement, and taxes.
    • The case illustrates the “shadow economy” that developed around money, value, and trust under scarcity.
  • Legal framing:
    • From the 1690s to 1742, English statutes classified many monetary crimes as capital offenses.
    • In 1749, NC enacted statutes imported from England that coining and clipping were capital offenses; counterfeiting-related offenses carried severe penalties (e.g., pillory, ears cut off).
  • The broader problem:
    • Paper money and metallic coin scarcity coexisted; counterfeiting and coining existed within a web of legal restrictions, enforcement challenges, and social coping mechanisms.

The Chemical Dimensions: Techniques, Tools, and Knowledge

  • Johnson’s role and training:
    • Described as a chemist or doctor; his training likely included familiarity with silver chemistry and mineral acids (e.g., aqua fortis and vitriol).
    • He may have learned or apprenticed in port cities with Atlantic connections; his identity as a chemist aligns with the finishing processes used on the coins.
  • Tools and materials:
    • For coin production: hammers, molds, and chemicals; the group ferried equipment from Virginia up the Neuse River to the swamp.
    • Finishing chemistry for coloration: acids such as vitriol (sulfuric acid) and aqua fortis (nitric acid) to dissolve surface silver and reveal a metallic look; tartar paste used to create a silvery surface finish.
  • The finishing process (physical chemistry):
    • After coins were cast, the surface would be treated with acids to dissolve any surface silver from other coins, bringing surface coloration close to real silver.
    • Tartar (potassium bitartrate) would be combined with acids to form a paste rubbed onto the coin to imitate the color of real silver/gold.
    • The entire process relied on practical chemistry that would have been familiar to apothecaries and chemists of the era.
  • Parallels to medicine and alchemy:
    • Techniques used in coin finishing were closely related to methods used in making chemical remedies (e.g., medicines from metallic substances and acids).
    • Texts like The Laboratory, or School of Arts by Godfrey Smith described methods to “silver all sorts of metals” using aqua fortis.
    • The line between alchemy, medicine, and industry blurred; chemistry in the Americas absorbed vernacular knowledge from alchemical traditions and medical practice.
  • Actors as knowledge-makers:
    • Johnson’s chemical skill is framed as central to the coining enterprise; Jillet’s blacksmithing skills supported metalworking; Moore’s trade connected to the broader crafts ecosystem.
  • Regional chemical culture and networks:
    • London merchants and colonial practitioners supplied chemical remedies and reagents (e.g., aqua fortis, vitriol) that could be repurposed for counterfeit metalwork.
  • The Atlantic knowledge network:
    • Silvery appearance, color matching, and use of tartar on surface reflect a transatlantic exchange of practical techniques in medicine, chemistry, and metalworking.

Detection, Verification, and Embodied Knowledge of Money

  • Sensory evaluation as a verification method:
    • Coins were often identified by color (appearance), texture, smell, sound, bite, and even taste (in some cases) due to the presence of tartar paste or metal composition.
    • The sheriff described the coins as “wanting in Colour” and “not easily imposed upon” due to finishing quality; some coins appeared coppery or bluish, or lacked the expected silvery finish.
    • Counterfeit coins might emit odors from tartar pastes or feel wet if not fully cured.
  • Local, embodied testing:
    • Because standardized testing did not exist, detection depended on experienced evaluators who used local cues and tactile/olfactory senses.
    • Evasive outcomes: many counterfeiters avoided punishment due to acquittal or escape, while others faced severe penalties.
  • The role of scale and speed in detection:
    • The emergence of a “finished” coin with convincing surface color could pass through if not scrutinized by a trained eye.
    • The Atlantic press accounts and newspaper reports helped spread knowledge of counterfeit patterns and detection cues.

Spatial and Social Context: Where Coining Happened and Why

  • The swamps and rivers as spaces for illicit work:
    • Dover Swamp and nearby Neuse River region provided a secluded setting for metalwork and acid use, allowing covert operations to avoid colonial authorities.
    • Swamps functioned as liminal spaces enabling marginalized or illicit groups to organize and pursue goals away from official scrutiny.
  • Mobility and supply chains:
    • Johnson, Moore, and Jillet coordinated transport of materials from Virginia up the Neuse River to the swamp; they leveraged river routes for logistics.
  • Link to maroon and marginalized histories:
    • The Great Dismal Swamp is noted as a site of long-standing maroon settlements and other marginalized populations seeking freedom or survival; this case adds to the sense that “hidden economies” operated at the margins.
  • Broader Atlantic dynamics:
    • The coiners’ activity reflects a larger pattern of laboring tradespeople (apothecaries, blacksmiths, tailors) contributing to monetary practices and the circulation of value across imperial borders.

Legal Framework, Enforcement, and Outcomes

  • Imperial and colonial law context:
    • From the 1690s through the 1740s, many monetary crimes were punishable by death in England; colonial statutes mirrored this severity.
    • The NC Assembly (1749) codified coinings and clippings as capital offenses, aligning with English statutes.
  • The Currency Act and monetary policy:
    • The Currency Act of 1764 sought to regulate colonial paper currency and address monetary instability, influencing enforcement strategies in the Atlantic world.
  • Punishments and outcomes for the New Bern case:
    • William Jillet and Daniel Johnson were executed for treason after Moore provided testimony.
    • Moore’s cooperation helped unravel the network; the case illustrates the harsh penalties for monetary crimes and the volatility of enforcement across imperial jurisdictions.
  • The enforcement problem in practice:
    • There was patchwork enforcement: some counterfeiters evaded punishment; others were severely punished; detection depended on empirical observation rather than standardized tests.

Economies of Scarcity: Money, Credit, and Substitutes

  • Multiple layers of currency during scarcity:
    • Local and colonial governments issued paper tender; parallel use of Spanish, Portuguese, French coins; barter and credit systems persisted.
    • Paper money and foreign coins coexisted with occasional underweight or altered coins in circulation.
  • Why coining mattered economically:
    • Coining offered a potential shortcut to obtain coins with credible value when local coins were scarce, enabling day-to-day transactions, debt settlements, taxes, and cross-imperial trade.
  • The social and political implications:
    • The case shows how monetary policy and enforcement could shape everyday life, affecting trust in currency and the costs of compliance or defiance.
  • The idea of money as a chemical art:
    • The author frames currency creation as a chemistry-heavy practice, tying value production to the embodied, experimental arts—an argument about the hands-on labor behind monetary systems.

Medical, Alchemical, and Economic Convergences

  • The alchemical and medical substrate of money-making techniques:
    • Techniques for coloring and finishing coins drew from alchemical and medical traditions (metal transmutation, acid use, binding pastes).
    • The overlap between making medicines and making coins is evident in technique sharing and the materials used (mineral acids, metallic pastes, and compressed drug-like preparations).
  • Notable examples and figures beyond Johnson/Moore/Jillet:
    • Seth Hudson (a coiner and forger previously in Boston, connected to the medical/forensic milieu).
    • Samuel Casey (Rhode Island) who turned to coining after a fire disrupted his medical inventory.
    • Benjamin Stockbridge and Gershom Bulkeley (New England medical practitioners) who conducted alchemical experiments or chemical-like processes.
  • Textual and institutional sources:
    • Printed manuals and pharmacopoeias, such as The New Dispensatory (London, 1753), describe methods to color metals and refine coins, illustrating how medicine and coinage shared practical techniques.
  • The intellectual landscape:
    • The era linked practical chemistry, medicine, and industrial arts; pre-professional categories were fluid (e.g., Johnson identified as chemist/doctor).
    • The broader historiography emphasizes the union of the head (theory) and the hands (craft) as part of the history of science and innovation.

Broader Implications and Historiographic Lessons

  • Reframing currency as a chemical and social artifact:
    • Currency should be understood not only as political policy but as an object produced through embodied knowledge, craft, and chemical practice.
  • Knowledge flows and the Atlantic world:
    • Experiential knowledge traveled across the Atlantic, with local adaptations driven by scarcity and imperial regulation.
  • The role of labor at the margins of law:
    • The coiners illustrate how marginalized labor contributed to knowledge production, value creation, and even enforcement practices in monetary policy.
  • Detection and enforcement as human, not purely mechanical processes:
    • The emphasis on senses (color, feel, odor, sound, taste) shows the human element in verifying currency and the vulnerability of enforcement to local expertise and biases.

Notable Details and Quotes (Illustrative Points)

  • “Bad Money” as a label used by the sheriff to describe the forged currency, highlighting moral and legal judgments attached to monetary crimes.
  • The coiners’ method included: shaving and melting metal, applying corrosive mineral acids, rubbing, biting, and polishing coins to pass as legitimate currency.
  • The finishing process aimed to color base-metal discs to resemble silver or gold using acids (vitriol and aqua fortis) and tartar paste, a sequence that echoes pharmaceutical preparations of the period.
  • The execution of Johnson and Jillet demonstrates the severity with which monetary crimes could be punished under colonial law, especially when linked to treason.
  • The article argues for a broader, more integrated history of knowledge that includes medicine, chemistry, and the artisanal trades as contributors to money production and regulation.

Figures and Examples Discussed (Referenced in the Text)

  • Figure 2: Coinage weights and values table across gold and silver coins, including pistoles, reales, and Spanish currency; shows the variation in currency types available in British North America and the perceived value of different metals.
  • Figure 3: Banks of the Neuse River, NC—illustrates the geographic setting that facilitated illicit coin production.
  • Figure 4: North Carolina in the eighteenth century map—context for the regional distribution of resources and routes.
  • Figure 5: Seth Hudson in popular print (H-ds-n’s Speech from the Pillory, 1762)—an illustration of public memory and sensationalization of currency crimes.
  • Figure 6a–6b: Counterfeit Mexican coins and a de facto peso with exposed lead underneath; demonstrates the detection challenges and finishing techniques that attempted to mimic genuine currency.

Connections to External Reading and Broader Scholarship

  • Related scholarly conversations:
    • Carl Wennerlind, The Death Penalty as Monetary Policy: The Practice and Punishment of Monetary Crime, 1690-1830.
    • Katherine Smoak, The Weight of Necessity: Counterfeit Coins in the British Atlantic World, Circa 1760-1800.
    • Kenneth Scott, Counterfeiting in Colonial America; Philip Mossman, From Crime to Punishment.
  • The article situates itself within broader debates about the intersection of science, medicine, and economic life in the early modern Atlantic world.

Further Reading (as Suggested by the Article)

  • Virginia Gazette, October 12, 1752; Boston Post-Boy, December 5, 1752.
  • Annals and secondary sources on eighteenth-century chemistry, alchemy, and the medical-pharmacopoeial context (e.g., The New Dispensatory, 1753).
  • Pamela H. Smith, The Body of the Artisan; Lissa Roberts, Simon Schaffer, and Peter Dear, The Mindful Hand.
  • Zachary Dorner, Merchants of Medicines: The Commerce and Coercion of Health in Britain's Long Eighteenth Century (2020).

Summary Takeaways

  • Coining in colonial North America was a multi-faceted activity arising from monetary scarcity, blending chemical know-how, artisanal labor, and legal risk.
  • The case of Johnson, Moore, and Jillet shows how chemistry, medicine, and metalworking intersected with imperial policy, enforcement, and everyday life.
  • The swamps and rivers of the mid-Atlantic provided both a logistical base and a symbolic space for illicit technical work, illustrating how environment shapes economic crime.
  • The broader message is that money, science, and labor were deeply intertwined in the early modern Atlantic world, with knowledge production often happening at the margins of legality and formal institutions.