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Debt cut into a split stick.
Also known as: Split tally, Exchequer tally, Notched stick record
The notation of notches cut across a stick which is then split, giving each party a matching half.
Records a debt or payment as notches cut across a stick, split so that each party holds a matching half.
Contexts: History
The split is the security: the grain of the wood makes each pair unique, so a forged half will not match, and the record cannot be altered by either party without the discrepancy showing.
Contexts: History
Used by the English Exchequer until the nineteenth century, long after paper accounting was available, because nothing on paper matched the tamper-evidence of the split.
Contexts: History
Notches of graded width cut across a wooden stick, the width of each cut standing for a different denomination, the stick then split lengthways through the notches.