Daily AncestorSpecie
Specie means coined money, gold and silver hard money, as opposed to paper; paid in specie meant a debt was settled in coin.
The word comes from the Latin phrase in specie, meaning in kind. In American records it marks payments made, or required, in coin rather than in bank notes or government paper, which were often worth less than their face value.
The difference mattered in hard times. In 1836 President Andrew Jackson's Specie Circular ordered that larger purchases of federal land be paid only in gold and silver. Congress repealed it in 1838.
As seen in a recordBond recorded in a county court, 1780s
the said sum to be paid in specie and not in paper bills
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Specie." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/money-measures/specie. Last checked 2026-10-03.