Does the “s” mean shilling, and were shillings (also) used by Americans in first half of 19th C.?
Answer Hello Charles, Shillings, Pence and Pounds were much more common in the 1700s as well as many other nationalities currency. But prior to 1776 these British denominations were the official unit for trade. In the years before acceptance of the US Dollar as the standard for trade all other coins and currencies would have been converted to an equal amount at the store or bank. A merchant may well have accepted foreign coins for payment but the value in US Dollars would be different from bank to bank upon deposit. The widest circulated I believe would have been the Spanish Milled Dollar. The 8 Real coins also called a PILLAR DOLLARS were historically used well into the early 1800s. These coins were also called Pieces of Eight where one silver bit was equal to 12.5 cents. All currency was converted to the going rate of the amount of silver or gold that the coin contained. I am not sure how many Shillings were to a dollar at the time but a bank would always convert the coins and sent t
