ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 4, 1996 TAG: 9609040077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
Colonial Williamsburg's visitors try to relive the 18th century life and times of George Washington and Ben Franklin. But spending cash with Washington's and Franklin's faces on it can ruin the feeling.
In the early 1770s, Washington was up north preparing to fight the British. Franklin was in Pennsylvania establishing the U.S. Post Office. Having their portraits on the money of their day would have been as odd as seeing Bill Clinton's face on today's currency.
Colonial Williamsburg officials noticed the anachronism. Two months ago, they introduced Colonial Currency, replicas of treasury notes from the 1770s that visitors can get in exchange for modern bills and spend throughout the restored area.
One note equals $1.
``The program is similar to one at Disney - Disney Dollars,'' said Joseph Belan, Colonial Williamsburg's director of internal audit and risk management.
So far, more than 54,000 of the 800,000 bills that Colonial Williamsburg had printed have circulated at gift shops, vendor stands and restaurants.
``We don't know how long we want to do it,'' Belan said. ``If it really takes off, we'd like to do it forever. We're always talking about what new things we'd like to introduce into the program to keep things fresh.''
The currency program already has stirred plans for a Colonial economic lesson. Interpreters will exchange treasury notes and explain to visitors how long their characters would have worked for a pound or shilling.
The idea is for people to ``get an idea of what money was worth back then,'' Belan said. ``It makes them feel like they were in a different time, a different country.''
If visitors don't spend all their Colonial Currency, they can keep the bills as souvenirs or exchange them for modern greenbacks.
Belan said officials aren't worried about counterfeit Colonial Currency.
``Almost no one tries to counterfeit $1 bills,'' he said.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB