The Probert Encyclopaedia of Money

TALLY

Originally, a tally was a piece of wood scored across with notches representing an amount of debt or payment. The wood was then split in half lengthways and each party kept half. An early document records the manner of using a tally thus: 'Let a hazel stick have cut transversely into it as many notches as there are figures to be recorded. To distinguish 1d, 1s, 1 pound, or any multiple thereof, the notches are cut of different breadths. Let the stick then split down the middle through all the notches. One half of the stick is then held by one party to the transaction, the corresponding half by the other.' Tallies were used by the British Exchequer until 1826.
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