Changing Money at Castle Garden

Immigrants Trade in their Currency at Castle Garden

In 1872, Louis Bagger recorded his impressions of walking though Castle Garden-
(Published in the March 1872 issue of Harper's New York Magazine.)

Castle Garden - Exterior View From The Battery

"All kinds of money are here exchanged, and often in considerable quantities. One of the gentleman doing business there informed me that as much as two to three hundred sovereigns and one to two thousand Prussian thalers were often changed into paper-money by one individual."

"A blackboard conspicuously displayed, announces the current rates at which foreign and domestic coins are exchanged - a rate that is but a trifle below the Wall Stree quotation. Whenever a change takes place it is instantly reported to the brokers at the Garden and the rate on the blackboard is altered immediately. And this too, seems a puzzle to our transatlantic friends."

This article is a brief excerpt from Die Pommerschen Leute (The Pomeranian People), a quarterly newsletter designed for people who have an interest in Pomeranian ancestry. Click here for more information.