e of earthen money was soon given up.[37] It is sometimes
asserted that the English engaged in making wampum, though the statement
appeared to be without foundation. The Dutch, however, produced it in
large quantities, and were thereby enabled to enlarge the circle of
their own posts; and also to furnish liberal supplies to the traders,
north and south, who ranged over the entire Atlantic coast from the St.
Lawrence to the gulf. In Virginia, the Carolinas, and later in Georgia,
wampum was the chief medium employed in the fur trade.

The poverty of the early settlers, added to that short sighted and now
obsolete policy of Europe in the seventeenth century, which jealously
sought to keep all specie within her borders, produced a general dearth
of the precious metals in the currency of the New World, and all kinds
of shifts were made to eke out the scanty supply. Corn, wheat, oats,
peas, poultry and the like sufficed to satisfy any obligation. But then,
though answering well in cases of barter, where two mutual desires met,
were far too bulky and unwieldy for general use. Naturally then recourse
was had to an article in extensive use among the traders, and possessing
in a measure the portability of gold and silver, and _wampum_ became a
constituent part of the currency. In one feature at least, the old
civilization held its own beside the new. As early as 1637, wampum was
made a legal tender in Massachusetts for any sum under 12_d._, at the
rate of six beads for a penny.[38] The same year it became a legal
tender in Connecticut for any amount. The general court declaring it
receivable for taxes "at fousen (4) a penny."[39]

But coin grew scarcer in Massachusetts and shell money increased in
value, till in 1640, the authorities were compelled to adopt the
valuation of Connecticut, ordering that the white pass at four and the
"bleuse" at two a penny, "and not above 12_d._ at a time except the
receiver desire more."[40] The public needs soon required another
change, and the legality of shell currency rose to L10.[41] This novel
coinage, thus regulated from time to time, answered well for money
throughout the colonies, till after a while trouble arose from an
unexpected source. The enormous demand at length brought upon the market
beads of stone or unallowed shells, as also many rough, ill-strung
specimens of the genuine article. The disorder was aggravated, because
the Indians, who best understood the qualities of their wampu