For What It’s Worth: Connecticut’s Currency At Fairfield Historical Society

FAIRFIELD — Recent changes to United States currency — brass-plated dollar coins, fifty different state quarters, pastel tints on the front of greenbacks — have startled many Americans, who assumed that the design of our bills and pocket change was as fixed as their value (if not their purchasing power).

But a new exhibition at Fairfield Historical Society makes clear that this seeming stability goes back just a few generations. Our counterparts in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries had to deal with a bewildering variety of currency, or often none at all. The number of coins in circulation during the Colonial period is estimated to have been one-fourth of the human population.

“For What It’s Worth: Money, Barter & Banks in Early Fairfield,” now open at Fairfield Historical Society, unfolds the history of money from Colonial times through the Civil War, using numerous examples and artifacts from Fairfield and other Connecticut communities.

“Most people are interested in money, but we take so much about it for granted,” notes Historical Society Curator Adrienne Saint-Pierre, who conceived and organized the show. “When you reach into your wallet for a $5 bill, pay for a dozen eggs, and get change, you’re doing something that was far more complicated 150 years ago… unless you had your own chickens.”

Before the 20th Century, currency with a set and accepted value was scarce, especially for ordinary people outside major cities. Most purchases were negotiated exchanges of foods or services; my lumber for your cloth, or your labor for my cider.

 “For What It’s Worth!” features a wealth of containers for money; a wooden money box and a man’s embroidered pocketbook from the 18th Century, beaded “misers’ purses” for coins, and a hobnail iron bank safe used by People’s Bank when it opened for business in 1842. More than a dozen toy banks from the late 19th Century, some with moving parts, have been loaned by the Bruce Museum of Greenwich.

The lobby entrance to the exhibition even looks like an early bank, with two teller’s windows. At one families can pick up a “bank book” for children to fill out as they go through the galleries. The other teller’s window has gallery guides that discuss the main themes of the exhibition, which will be on view through January 17, 2005.

The exhibition also includes sections on bartering and counterfeiting, in addition to different coins and currency.

On Sunday, March 28, at 2 pm, financial journalist Gregory D.L. Morris will share his hard-earned knowledge of bogus bills and clipped coins in a lecture called “Counterfeit!” Tickets are $7, which includes admission to the exhibition.

Fairfield Historical Society is at 636 Old Post Road, opposite Town Hall Green (Exit 22 off I-95). Museum hours are Tuesday–Saturday, 10 am–4:30 pm and Sunday, 1–4:30 pm.

Suggested donation is $3 for adults and $1 for ages 6–12. Children under 6 and members are admitted free. For information, 203-259-1598 or visit www.FairfieldHS.org.