Daily AncestorMill
A mill is one thousandth of a dollar, or a tenth of a cent: a money of account used in tax rates, not a regular coin.
The Continental Congress used the term in 1786, and the Coinage Act of 1792 set the money of account as dollars, dimes, cents and mills, a mill being the thousandth part of a dollar. It was a unit for figuring, and the mint did not make it a regular coin.
The unit lived on in tax rates, which are still stated in mills per dollar of assessed value. A tax list rate of 5 mills means half a cent on each dollar of value.
As seen in a recordCounty tax duplicate, 1850s
State tax on real and personal property, 4 mills on the dollar
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Daily Ancestor. "Mill." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/money-measures/mill-money. Last checked 2026-10-03.