Tally Sticks When Britain Was Broke

bootyp(44)
Published in
#money
Words
190
Reading
1 min
9y
Listen to this post
~1 min

Britain is still broke now and falling deeper into the red everyday.

Many years ago,   Tallies were a way of recording debts with a system that was sublimely simple and effective.   

Tally stick was a technique which became common in medieval Europe, which was  constantly short of money (coins) and predominantly illiterate, in  order to record bilateral exchange and debts. A stick (squared hazelwood  sticks were most common) was marked with a system of notches and then  split lengthwise. This way the two halves both record the same notches  and each party to the transaction received one half of the marked stick  as proof. 

The stick would contain a record of the debt, for example: "£9 4s 4d from Fulk Basset for the farm of Wycombe". Fulk Basset was a Bishop of London in the 13th Century. He owed his debt to King Henry III.   

Because willow has a natural and distinctive grain, the two halves would match only each other. 

Today the UK is still in debt much more so now however, Bitcoin and ALT coins could be the saviour for the people.

Peace.

TIPS LTC: 3FMVuX6PfyXsPhhMeqTowgQX8SeJ4c3cTd

Tally Sticks When Britain Was Broke | Ecency