Sunday, June 26, 2011

The Color of Money – NY Times

A mockup of a Confederate coin reveals hidden truths.
Comment: When I came across the art and music works of American genre created by William Sydney Mount and "Setauketeers" as partly preserved at the Museums at Stony Brook I was informed that Mount had illustrated many "States paper money" as part of his repertoire (see Frankenstein's scholarly study, a large book). This reminds one that there was no "Federal" currency and no standards even in the width of railroad tracks, from "state" to "state" as the Union would find when it moved materiel in the ensuing Civil War. The underlying lack of standard currency problem stretches back to the American Revolution. As a reminder, so-called "abolitionist" currency was coined and found its way into the daily commerce of American citizens, as a reminder to abolish slavery. Some were excavated in Civil War era water control feature in "Alphabet City" where the film "Batteries Not Included" was filmed in NYC.
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