Tax time then
From an 1684 list of tax arrears in Albany (emphasis ours): "Being urged to pay the same, [Jan Van Loon] answers that he does not know why he should pay 10 gl. in beavers. He refuses to pay and request that it may remain in abeyance until the arrival of the honorable governor general." Another guy that year got out of paying "1/2 beaver" because his house burned down.
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Comments
That's it. I'm going back to the beaver currency system. It's just too hilarious to ignore. I'll have to get a bigger wallet, though.
... said Siobhan on Feb 24, 2009 at 1:12 PM | link
I just spent 5 minutes trying to come up with the perfect beaver joke but it's just not happening. Maybe "you can never pay too much for beaver"? Someone help me out.
... said Save Pine Hills on Feb 24, 2009 at 1:58 PM | link
If I remember my Dutch history correctly, the beaver-based system went roughly as such:
5 Mice = 1 Rat
2 Rats = 1 Cat
5 Cats = 1 Cur
2 Curs = 1 Beaver
5 Beavers = 1 Wolf
2 Wolves = 1 Bear
10 Bears = 1 Bull
Fun facts:
-During the 1690's, many trappers were smuggling in out-of-colony coyotes and passing them off as the more valuable curs. This gave rise to the term "mangy cur"!
-Rich Dutchman would often travel down the Hudson to the southern tip of New Amsterdam and convert their higher-end pelts into Spanish gold. This took place outside the defensive wall. Each spring, the river was full of chatter about the Spanish needs and whether it would be a "bear" or "bull" market outside the wall's street!
... said Sandor on Feb 24, 2009 at 2:27 PM | link
Anyone who is interested in this would do well to read Janny Venema's fascinating study, "Beverwijck -- A Dutch Village on the American Frontier," the best explanation of everyday life in early Albany I've ever read.
... said Carl on Feb 25, 2009 at 7:40 AM | link