Regency Reader Questions: Cheques and Paper Money

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A reader on social media asks: What were the Regency equivalent of checks?

I appreciated the question so much, I thought I would share the answer here with a little more detail.

So by the early 19th century, there were three types of legitimate paper money and one that was more a debt of honour.

The debt of honour was an IOU, sometimes referred to as a vowel (IOU…get it?)
To VOWEL A gamester who does not immediately pay his losings is said to vowel the winner by repeating the vowels IOU or perhaps from giving his note for the money according to the Irish form where the acknowledgment of the debt is expressed by the letters IOU which the sum and name of the debtor being added is deemed a sufficient security among gentlemen Grose, F. (1796). A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. By Francis Grose. United Kingdom: Hooper & Company.

An IOU acknowledges a debt exists, but does not contain specific terms or conditions and was generally thought more of a debt of honour than a promissory note that was legally binding.

By the long Regency, there were essentially two forms of promissory note: promissory note and banknote.  Banknotes are promissory notes issued by a bank and payable to the bearer on demand, and could be reissued.  By the late 1780s, the Bank of England began issuing  £1 and £2 notes, adding £5 by 1825.  Banknotes issued by private banks all looked different, some carrying pictures of the town the bank was based out of, or a coat of arms, or animal.  This resulted in issues with fraud and forgery despite heavy penalities including capital punishment, so that by 1808 a license was required to issue a note.  755 licenses were issued throughout England and Wales (Banknotes). One suggestion in the newspaper was to print a warning on banknotes:

New Times (London) – Thursday 26 February 1818

Before the more formal printing of banknotes in select denominations, they were printed sort of like blank checks where details were filled in:

This image came of the Bank of England website that has a whole timeline of the evolution of banknotes here: Early banknotes | Bank of England

Promissory notes tended to be more like the early version of a banknote where the holder could fill out the details, but often it was a promise of payment so that terms like due date or interest would be added in:

 

MERY A PROMISSORY NOTES M y A Promissory Note is a written engagement on the part of the drawer for the payment of a sum of money therein specified Sometimes the note is made payable to a person there in named or his order or bearer in which case if transferred care must be taken to have it endorsed or the drawer will not be obliged to pay its amount to the person who may present it Those used by Bankers are frequently made payable to the bearer whoever he may be without naming any person FORM OF A PROMISSORY NOTE PAYABLE AFTER DATE f 100 Nottingham May 16th 1806 One month after date I promise to pay to Mr James Greenwood or order one hundred pounds value received here or at Messrs Johnson and Co No 76 Lombard Street London J WILLIAM WALKER These notes not requiring acceptance are conveni ent for those tradesmen who wish to make remittances without sending specie and have no connexion with persons on whom they can draw Bills of Exchange but they are not esteemed like Bills because they have not the responsibility of an accepter There is a species of Promissory Notes issued by the Bank of England payable a few days after sight called Bank Post Bills in the payment of which no Days of Grace are claimed They are transferable by endorse ment but generally pass from one person to another on mere delivery Promissory Notes payable on demand may be reissu ed after payment Indeed the Bank Notes in common use which are always of this description are frequent ly paid and repaid till the paper on which they are drawn is literally worn out By a recent Act of Par
liament however it is ordered that notes of more value than one guinea shall not be reissued after the expira tion of three years from the time when they were drawn Notes for the payment of sums of money obtained on loan & c are similar to the above but they are frequently made to contain a promise of payment of legal Interest Goodacre, R. (1811). A Treatise on Book-keeping, Adapted to the Use of Schools: Containing Two Sets of Books by Single Entry, One by Double Entry, and an Outlineset to be Filled Up by Either Method : to which is Added, a Familiar Dissertation on the Various Bills and Notes, Used in Commerce as Substitutes for Cash. United Kingdom: Cradock and Joy.

For many large bills, including foreign transactions, what was more common were bills of exchange. From my understanding, these are most like the modern check.

ON INLAND BILLS OF EXCHANGE FORM OF AN INLAND BILL OF EXCHANGE PAY ABLE TWO MONTHS AFTER DATE WITH ENDORSEMENTS AND ACCEPTANCE 25 7 6 Nottingham July 31st 1806 Two months after date pay to Mr William White or order twenty five pounds seven shillings and sixpence value re ceived as advised To Messrs Hill and Co Bankers London JOHN COOK ENDORSEMENTS ON THE BACK OF THE ABOVE BILL Accepted Hill and Co W White Special Endorsement Pay to the order of Mr W King William King Blank Endorsement To understand the nature of the above let us sup pose that John Cook of Nottingham owes to William White the sum of 251 7s 6d and wishes to discharge his debt Instead of giving him the amount in cash he presents to him the above bill having drawn it on Messrs Hill and Co Bankers London who are here by requested to pay the amount in Cash or Notes to 2
William White or any person appointed by him to re ceive it at the time of its becoming due Messrs Hill and Co having property belonging to the said John Cook in their hands or being convinced of his punc tuality in payment agree to his request by writing on the bill Accepted Hill and Co John Cook is called the drawer William White is the payee and having written on the back Pay to the order of William King and having signed his name he is a special endorser and William King the special endorsee who having signed his name on the back of the bill when he paid it to William Wilson is also an endorser Hill and Co are called the drawees and after they have accepted the bill they are also termed the accepters Bills are sometimes drawn payable to the order of the drawer thus Pay to my order & c and then endorsed over by the drawer himself when he has oc casion to make his payment FORM OF A BILL PAYABLE TO ORDER AFTER SIGHT WITH THE ACCEPTANCE 56 7 6 York Oct 16th 1806 Fourteen days after sight pay to Mr John James or order fifty six pounds seven shillings ana sixpence value received as advised To Mr James Osborne Cheapside London JOHN and JAMES WILSON Accepted Oct 23d James Osborne Bills drawn payable after sight must have the accept ance dated in order to know when they will become due thus the above being accepted Oct 23 will become due Nov 9 allowing for the three Days of Grace The time at which they are payable after sight is frequent ly introduced by the drawer to prevent his creditor from making a demand upon him unexpectedly
Bills payable on demand or at sight drawn on Banker resident in the same place as the drawer or within ten miles of it and bearing date on or before the day on which they were issued are exempt from the stamp duty When a Bill is intended to be transferred either the phrase or order or this or bearer ought im mediately to follow the name of the payee It is pro per also to insert the words value received or in case of insolvency or any accident by which the bill is re turned if it be above 201 the holder will not be able to recover the postage and other expenses attending the return nor the interest of his money during the time the bill may remain unpaid 2 OF ENDORSING AND TRANSFERRING When any person receives a Bill of the payee paya ble to order he must take care that it is endorsed by ham or in other words that his name is written on the back of it Every person who receives a bill ought also to have it endorsed in like manner by the person who pays it to him otherwise he loses the advantage of the payer's responsibility as every person who has en dorsed a bill is equally responsible with the drawer for its value Endorsing is also useful to prevent Bills from being negotiated by dishonest persons When Bills are sent to a distance it is adviseable to endorse them specially because after the name of the special endorser must follow that of the special endorsee or person to whom the bill is made payable and when this coincidence appears on the bill it is presumable that it has not been fraudulently obtained Endorsing a Bill with fictitious names to add to its respectability or making any alteration in it with a fraudulent intention is said to amount to forgery
Bills may be safely altered in nonessential points as for instance by inserting more particularly the ad dress of the accepter but if any alteration is made the date or sum after the Billis negotiated the holder loses all claim upon the person who negotiated it and in some instances tre Bill becomes null and void 3 OF ACCEPTANCE The acceptance of a Bill is a promise on the part of the person on whom it is drawn to pay its amount when it shall become due Bills are not universally sent to the person on whom they are drawn for accep tance but are frequently negotiated on the faith of the drawer and endorsers till they become due and are presented to the drawee for actual payment Never theless any person who takes one unaccepted may avail himself of the responsibility of the drawee by sending it for acceptance and in case this should be refused he may claim payment of any preceding en dorser or of the drawer When a Bill is presented for acceptance the person on whom it is drawn has a right to demand 24 hours to consider of the propriety of accepting it He may also accept it positively or sub ject to some conditions thus if he conceives the Fre sponsibility too great he may accept it for less than its full value the holder is not however obliged to ac cede to such conditions but may return the bill to the person of whom he had it the same as if the acceptance had been positively refused L When a person has accepted a Bill either positively or under any condition he is bound to pay the amount for which he has accepted it when the bill becomes due The acceptance of a Bill should be in writing and it is generally written either at the bottom or across the middle but this is not indispensable When the acceptance is subject to some condition the sum
for which it is accepted should be expressed on the Bill A written or even verbal promise to accept or pay the amount of a Bill is said if authenticated to be binding against the promiser It is also said that when a person has been pressed for a debt and has promised to pay after a given time in case a Bill should be drawn upon him such promise though he has atter wards refused to accept the bill when actually drawn has been taken as an acceptance and the Bill has been negotiated with the promise in lieu of an acceptance and at the time it became due he has been obliged to pay it Legal decisions on record appear to justify the preceding statement still as the nature of this work will not admit a minute investigation of peculiar features it may be proper to repeat the observation that the acceptance of a Bill ought to be in writing The acceptance of any Clerk or Servant in the name of his employer is binding if it can be proved that he has been authorised to accept Bills or has been in the habit of doing so on account of his Master If the Servant afterwards leave his employment the Master is bound to acquaint all his correspondents individual lý with the circumstance otherwise he will be liable to answer for all acts done in his name as before The acceptance of a Bill after sight must be dated in order to know when it will become due 4 OF THE TIME AND MANNER OF PAYMENT In calculating the time when a Bill becomes due the day on which it is drawn is not to be counted and to the time expressed in the Bill three days are to be added called Days of Grace on the last of which the Bill becomes due but if this should happen to be Sun day Christmas Day or Good Friday the Bill ought to be presented the day before When the Bill is drawn
for one two or more months after date or sight the calculation is to be made from the day of the month on which it is drawn or accepted to the corresponding day in the Calendar month when it will become due but if there are not so many days in that month then on the last day of the month the date of the bill will expire thus the time of a bill drawn December 28 29 30 and 31 two months after date will expire on February 28 if not leap year and one drawn on of the three latter days will expire on February 29 if leap year Under these circumstances allowing for the Days of Grace the bill will become due March 3d The same observation will apply to Bills drawn payable after sight Bills ought never to be paid till the day they due because if during circulation they are fraudu lently obtained the parties losing them have an easy remedy by applying to the drawee for stoppage of the payment If a Bill has been paid by the drawee before the day on which it becomes due and if any notice for stoppage of payment should afterwards arrive the loss of the Bill will be his own On the other hand no person ought to hold a bill after it is due because in case the accepter become insolvent the loss of the Bill will fall upon the holder unless he can convince a Jury that it was despatched in proper time or that he had no means of despatching it sooner For the same reason those Bills payable on demand called Bankers Checks drawn in London should be present ed for payment on the day on which they are drawn or at all events early the next morning On the day on which a Bill hecomes due the holder must get it presented during the usual Hours of busi ness to the drawee who is bound to furnish its amount in Cash or Bank Notes When Bills are drawn on per sons who are not Bankers it is usual to accept them payable at a Banking House or to pay them by giving a Draft or Check for the amount payable on demand
The holder is not however obliged to take this but may if he thinks proper insist on receiving the value in Bank Notes Goodacre, R. (1811). A Treatise on Book-keeping, Adapted to the Use of Schools: Containing Two Sets of Books by Single Entry, One by Double Entry, and an Outlineset to be Filled Up by Either Method : to which is Added, a Familiar Dissertation on the Various Bills and Notes, Used in Commerce as Substitutes for Cash. United Kingdom: Cradock and Joy.

I know Georgette Heyer, a time or two, refers to paper money as “rolls of soft” but I have not yet found any evidence that is anything other than a Heyerism. A clever one, but not one I have been able to validate as cant in actual use.

In a lot of ways, what was evolving with paper money was a system still familiar to some, at least older generations, today.  Credit, checks, and ready money (cash) ruled the day with distinctions between credit (debt), checks, and cash.

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