The bills continued to depreciate rapidly. In 1763 the following table was adopted as a standard for the determination of old tenor debts.
| £. | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the year 1751 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 2 | 16 | 0 |
| In the year 1752 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 3 | 00 | 0 |
| In the year 1753 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| In the year 1754 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 3 | 15 | 0 |
| In the year 1755 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 4 | 05 | 0 |
| In the year 1756 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 5 | 05 | 0 |
| In the year 1757 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 5 | 15 | 0 |
| In the year 1758 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 6 | 00 | 0 |
| In the year 1759 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 6 | 00 | 0 |
| In the year 1760 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 6 | 00 | 0 |
| In the year 1761 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| In the year 1762 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 7 | 00 | 0 |
| In the year 1763 a Spanish milled dollar was worth | 7 | 00 | 0 |
At the same time it was "enacted and declared, that lawful money of this colony is, and shall hereafter be silver and gold coin; and that nothing else shall be taken and understood to be lawful money of this Colony." Old tenor suffered a still further depreciation, until in the tax act of February 1769 it was ordered that it be received at the rate of $1 for £8. By act of September 1770, its circulation was forbidden after January 1, 1771. The rapid depreciation since the issues at the time of King George's War together with the return of Massachusetts to a specie currency at the end of the war seems to have been disastrous for Rhode Island commerce which was mostly with the West Indies. The disturbance was aggravated by the approaching war, and so numerous did mercantile failures become that a general insolvency act was passed in 1756.
Financial History 1751-1790.
Financial History 1751-1775.
During the French and Indian war paper money was issued in large quantities but provision was made for its redemption in accordance with the Act of Parliament in 1751, and an earnest attempt was made to meet the obligations thus incurred.
The period from 1751 to 1775 was really a period of war financiering, for the debt incurred for war purpose was not extinguished until the beginning of the Revolution, and we shall treat it as a whole.
The sources of revenue were loans, bills of credit, treasury notes, grants made by the English government, and taxes.
Loans.
These were usually advanced by private individuals. Unfortunately the accounts entered in the colony book by the auditing committees were not kept in such a manner as to enable us to determine with satisfactory certainty either the amounts borrowed or the times of repayment. The difficulty is the greater with regard to the latter point. So far as the books show the sums borrowed between 1751 and 1775, reduced to sterling, amounted to about £28,441, of which all but about £4,000 was borrowed during the six years 1755-1761.