Ross Bank 1800

[Mac]

An interesting item - I wonder if the IOU would have circulated as currency.

[DOC]

An interesting item - I wonder if the IOU would have circulated as currency.

Yes, it appears that these IOU’s circulated as a replacement for change due to the shortage of silver coinage. An 1804 House of Commons Committee mentions that IOU’s were issued by ‘every shopkeeper in Cork and by several shopkeepers in Kinsale’. This situation was regarded as ‘evil’

In theory, as the notes were payable to bearer, they were transferable from one person to another, though an individual may typically have returned to the shopkeeper or publican who issued them to obtain a credit for their next purchase.