Colonial coins

For anyone who's researching ancestors in the Colonial period, I thought this might be helpful:

"The basic colonial coin was not British but foreign--the Spanish dollar or piece of eight--a fact that in itself tells a good deal about the state of the currency. But coins from France, Portugal, and Holland were also legal tender in America, all valued in terms of the Spanish dollar. The English pound, always in short supply, was the equivalent of one dollar. Among other Spanish coins in use, the silver pistareen was worth about twenty-five cents, the gold escudo two dollars, and the gold pistole or doblon about four dollars. The Portuguese dobra or double johannes, called in America a 'joe,' was widely used and had a value of about sixteen dollars."

From A New Age Now Begins Vol. I, Page Smith. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1976, p, 141. A fascinating book about the beginnings of our country; I've no doubt I'll be quoting from it again.