Money in 1880

Hannah wants to know "about what money looked like and what is was worth . . . like in the first book [Long Ride Home], they [Andi and Rosa] bought ribbons with a dime. We probably couldn't buy that now a days. Well, at least not brand-new."

In this post, I'll show you what "coin" money looked like. In later posts, I'll write about what paper money (greenbacks) looked like; then in another post I'll talk about how much things cost (like food and thread) and how much money people made working different jobs in 1880.

1880 Dime

First off, here is a picture of what one of the dimes looked like that I found in my saddlebag. That was a REAL nice surprise, by the way. I was going to use one of the dimes to buy something special for Rosa and her family.

"Double Eagle"

Later on in the book, that mean ol' Felicity offered to buy Taffy for $20.00. In 1880, a twenty-dollar gold piece was called a "Double Eagle."Felicity could have given me one of those, but she slapped two "Eagles" into my hand. An "Eagle" is a ten-dollar gold piece.

"Eagle"

Can you guess what a "Half-Eagle" might be? Yep, a five-dollar gold piece! In Andrea Carter and the Price of Truth, Chad paid me eight dollars for all that work I did picking peaches. He gave me a half-eagle and three silver dollars.

"Half-Eagle"

Silver dollar

Of course, there were pennies too! Ever hear of penny candy? At the bottom of this post is a picture of a penny from 1880. Enjoy, and I'll be back later to talk about greenbacks (and how paper money got that funny name).

Indian head penny