| 1716-1728 | £1,999 | £2,118 |
| 1729-1731 | 3,984 | 4,082 |
| 1732-1733 | 6,817 | 6,853 |
| 1734 | 12,000 | 12,108 |
| 1735-1738 | 10,000 | 10,249 |
| 1739-1741 | 15,000 | 15,004 |
| 1742-1743 | 13,200 | (1739) |
| 1744 | 8,200 | Direct issues of money and receipts from taxes, loans, &c. render interest money a comparatively unimportant source of revenue after 1739. |
| 1745-1748 | 14,600 | |
| 1749-1751 | 9,000 | |
| 1752-1754 | 18,251 | |
| 1755-1762 | 11,851 | |
| 1763 | 9,841 | |
| 1764 | 7,111 | |
| 1765 | 4,741 |
The above sums do not include £2,000 emitted in 1728 for use on the fort. Portions of the bills emitted to exchange torn bills seem to have been turned from that purpose to meet ordinary expenses. In June, 1726, £46,634 were emitted to exchange £5 and 40s. notes, but only £30,383 seem to have been applied to that purpose. (See report of 1739, given in Potter's history.) This seems to be the only important instance.
[106]. These figures are taken from a report made by Governor Ward to the Board of Trade (R.I. Col. Recs. IV, 8). It is stated in the same report that the then value of paper money in silver was 27s. per ounce. The value of sterling silver is reckoned at 5s. 3d. per ounce. On this basis the sterling value of the £340,000 would be £77,777, instead of £88,074. If we estimate the population at 25,000 this would give a nominal per capita debt of £13 12s. or in sterling £3 2s. or £3 5s., according to the estimate which we adopt, a large amount in either case. Redemption, it must be remembered however, was to be accomplished not by taxation by repayment of loans on the part of the citizens. There is reason to believe the actual amount outstanding exceeded £340,000. We must also add about £12,000 (nominal) of bills not loaned but issued directly from the treasury and redeemable only by taxation. (See text and succeeding note)
[107]. The first bank expired in 1728 and repayment by ten annual installments should then have begun. In 1732, £1,066 was due on the second installment, and none of the third was accounted for (R.I. Col. Recs. IV, 476). In some instances persons had neglected altogether to give tenth bonds, as they were called. In 1741, there were five hundred and forty-nine suits on bonds and mortgages in six towns in Providence County. In 1742, one thousand and forty more suits were instituted. The aggregate amount of the latter being only £3,880, which would show that the bonds were taken up in small quantities. (Rider's edition of Potter, p. 56). An examination of the accounts of the grand committee which had charge of these banks shows approximately the amounts (old tenor value) outstanding at the dates given. The second column shows the amounts legally outstanding:
| August, 1749 | £ 459,000 | £ 420,000 |
| March, 1750/1 | 426,000 | 360,000 |
| February, 1753 | 398,000 | 302,000 |
| August, 1759 | 218,000 | 120,000 |
| August, 1762 | 129,000 | 48,000 |
In these statements bank IX which amounted to £237,000 old tenor is not included. All loans should have been repaid in 1767, but a report of May, 1770, shows that £92,615-15-7 was still outstanding. These figures of course do not show the exact amount of the bank money in circulation, but the amount of loans unpaid. Between 1770 and 1775, there is record of £95,144 old tenor burnt.
[108]. There are several points not clear in this report. In the first place it does not agree with the report of 1739, which, from a comparison with the yearly treasury reports, I believe is correct. The present report places the amount of bills issued to supply the treasury before 1739, at £106,300, and the amount burnt before that time at £88,329. In the second place it states the amount of the bills to supply the treasury, issued between 1739 and 1749, as £206,000 (old tenor value) whereas the records and treasury reports show £219,600. If we adopt the report of 1739, to that date, and rely upon the records and treasury reports after that period we have the following result.
| Bills issued to supply the treasury previous to 1749 | £ 336,611 | old tenor value. |
| Burnt during same period | 194,429 | |
| Outstanding January, 1749/50 | 142,182 | |
| Of which there were in the treasury | 24,891 | |
| In circulation | 117,291 | per cap. of population £3 11s. |
| Sterling Value at 11 to 1 | 10,663 | per cap. of population 6s. 5d. |
These bills must be redeemed by taxation. There were also actually outstanding probably from £430,000-£440,000 of bank money, of sterling value of about £40,000. Adding these amounts we should have a nominal per capita debt of £16 15s. sterling £1 10s. 7d. Douglas in his Summary (p. ) estimates outstanding bills (old tenor value) of the colonies in 1745, as follows:
| Massachusetts | £2,466,612 |
| Connecticut | 281,000 |
| Rhode Island | 550,000 |
| New Hampshire | 450,000 |