Four notched sticks

Description

Notched sticks fulfilled a function similar to that of written receipts in transactions involving payments today. Debtors and creditors each received one half of a small stick which had been split lengthwise. When interest was paid by the debtor the two halves were laid side by side, and a notch cut through both. The custom of receipting payments in this way must have been very old, going back to a time when many people were unable to write. It became so widespread that it was used even by the literate, and it continued in use long after the average town dweller knew how to write. A few notched sticks carry the date and the name of the former bearer written in ink on the back. These notched sticks belonged to Georg Wildysen (1556-1602), a pastor, to Lux Just (1573-1633), a doctor, to a certain Doktor Jacob and to Professor Heinrich Just (1561-1610).