fix articles 561717, by jack herer
"The story of American money, which occupies a period of about three centuries, began when the early settlers in New England carried on their fur trade with the indians through the use of wampum, which had been fashioned from mussel shells in the form of beads. Beaver skins, wampum, and in Virginia, tobacco, soon became the common accepted media of exchange for all other available commodities. The immigrants, in fact, had little use for coined money at first, but when traders arrived from foreign lands, coins were usually demanded in payment for goods." Opening Statement of the book "A Guidebook of United States Coins" 17th Edition, 1964 by R.S. Yeoman