Daily AncestorOld tenor
Old tenor meant the early, badly depreciated paper bills of Massachusetts and other New England colonies, as opposed to later new tenor or lawful money.
Massachusetts began issuing paper bills of credit in 1690, and as more were printed they lost value. Later issues were rated above earlier bills of the same face value: middle tenor bills of 1737 at three times and new tenor bills of 1741 at four times. The earlier bills became known as old tenor. Connecticut had its own old and new tenor issues.
Massachusetts withdrew its paper money around 1750 and returned to silver. A sum in old tenor is much smaller than the same figure in lawful money: Connecticut's 1755 rate made one lawful money shilling equal 7.33 old tenor shillings.
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Daily Ancestor. "Old tenor." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/money-measures/old-tenor. Last checked 2026-10-03.