Talk:Borealia (1812 Closure)

From Alternative History

Wouldn't the currency be the pound *there*. After all, I suspect that Borealia would be the dominant country in North America *there*, and since the United States doesn't exist anymore *there* either, the alt-Canada is unlikely to use the Dollar as a currency. --Sikulu 13:56, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

The dollar (the spanish one incidently) was a common currency used all through North America in the 18th and 19th century. This is why Canada used the dollar from the begining whereas Australia only dropped the poun in 1966. --Marcpasquin 01:00, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes, but the US doesn't exist anymore *there*, so that still leaves the question of why change from pounds to dollars. At any rate, is the exchange rate for (Borealian) dollars to pounds still $2.40 to £1, or is it diferent *there*? --Sikulu 11:44, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

That was my point, they didn't realy change. The pound was always the *acounting* currency but not realy the exchange one (within the various colonies). The problem (shared with many other colonies) was that without local mines, the local government could not mint its own coins. It could pay people with promisory notes but oversea merchants and travelers would refuse them since they became worthless outside the colony and so what little coins there was (imported from the motherland) left the colony pretty quickly.

What happen then was that many different coins circulated but by far the most common was the spanish piece of eight (the "spanish dollar") which was minted in large quatity in mexico. Through trades and plunder, many had found there ways into british north america. Adopting the dollar was then mostly a matter of recognising a de facto, if not de jure, situation.

One difference though would be the value. The loyalists who had fled north after the US revolution used a rate of 1$/5 shilling whereas the maritimes settlers used 1$/8 shilling. *Here* the former was adopted (to help trade with the south) but *there*, I would assume the later would have been used. --Marcpasquin 17:13, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Fair enough. I is the pound is still legal tender in Borealia then? --Sikulu 11:10, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

only in the way any foreign money is "legal". --203.164.53.65 14:10, 3 February 2007 (UTC)