tally sticks
Scored wooden accounts
Tally sticks were wooden rods used to record quantities or debts by cutting notches into the wood.
The stick would be split lengthwise so both parties held matching halves—the notches had to align when reunited, preventing fraud.
Medieval England used them for tax records until the 19th century.
The practice gives us tally for counting and keeping score.
- keep scoreTrack competitive standings
- exchequerGovernment financial reserves
- notchesV-shaped incisions
- debtMoney owed another
- debt collectionPursuing owed payments
marks · split · counterparts · hazel · cut · ledger · indenture · whittle · carve · medieval · wood · foil · records · tokens · accounting · double entry · grooves · receipts
tally sticksclay tablets
Inscribed earthen slabs
account books · spreadsheets · digital databases · parchment scrolls · blockchain
tally sticksdigital records
Information stored as data
cloud storage · cryptocurrency · smart contracts · intangible assets · binary data
stick, tally, sticks, tallest, stickiness, tallying, tallies, tallied, tallyman