What are Colonial American coins and what does a complete set look like? It’s a question that numismatists, both amateur and professional, have debated for decades, and something I’ve been considering over the years as I have started my own low grade set, starting with some bargain bin Connecticut coppers and similarly cheap worn Draped Bust large cents. Colonial American coins are typically considered to include coins and tokens circulated or related to the American Colonies prior to the adoption of the US Constitution and the creation of the first US Mint in Philadelphia in 1792 (though there is some overlap into few years after that). Even before Jamestown or the Plymouth Colony, the oldest permanent European settlement in what is now the United States was founded in 1565 by Spain in St. Augustine, Florida. As early as 1497, King Ferdinand authorized Christopher Columbus to establish a mint in the New World in Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola (today's Dominican Republic & Haiti). In 1500, Johan Pestana was appointed treasurer of the proposed mint, but for various unknown reasons, no mint was operational there until 1542. The New World’s first working mint was established by Spain in Mexico in 1536. France produced coins exclusively for Louisiana, Canada and other New World territories as early as the 1640s (produced in France and marked by counterstamps per the edict of 1640 validating coins for circulation in Nouvelle France) prominently including the 30 Deniers or double sols from Lyon 1710-1713 and then others. The Dutch established the colony of New Netherlands (by the Dutch West India Company in 1624), which grew to include New York City and parts of Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey – which included New Amsterdam on the southern end of the island of Manhattan. Here, immigrants traded silver Lion Dollars “Daalders,” a coin first minted in Holland in 1575. By 1617 the Lion Dollar was popular wherever commerce was thriving; America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Orient. Spanish coinage was the most important in the context of early American coins. (from Wikipedia) The Coinage Act of 1792 created the United States Mint and initially defined the United States dollar at par with the Spanish dollar due to its international reputation: By far the leading specie coin circulating in America was the Spanish silver dollar (8 Reales), defined as consisting of 387 grains of pure silver. The dollar was divided into "pieces of eight," or "bits," each consisting of one-eighth of a dollar. Spanish dollars came into the North American colonies through lucrative trade with the West Indies. The Spanish silver dollar had been the world's outstanding coin since the early 16th century, and was spread partially by dint of the vast silver output of the Spanish colonies in Latin America. More important, however, was that the Spanish dollar, from the 16th to the 19th century, was relatively the most stable and least debased coin in the Western world. The Coinage Act of 1792 specified that the U.S. dollar would contain 371.25 grains (24.057 g) pure or 416 grains (26.96 g) standard silver. This specification was based on the average weight of a random selection of worn Spanish dollars which Alexander Hamilton ordered to be weighed at the Treasury. Initially this dollar was comparable to the 371–373 grains found in circulating Spanish dollars and aided in its exportation overseas. The restoration of the old 0.9028 fineness in the Mexican peso after 1821, however, increased the latter's silver content to 24.44 g and reduced the export demand for U.S. dollars. Before the American Revolution, owing to British mercantilist policies, there was a chronic shortage of British currency in Britain's colonies. Trade was often conducted with Spanish dollars that had been obtained through illicit trade with the West Indies. Spanish coinage was legal tender in the United States until the Coinage Act of 1857 discontinued the practice. The pricing of equities on U.S. stock exchanges in 1⁄8-dollar denominations persisted until the New York Stock Exchange converted first to pricing in sixteenths of a dollar on 24 June 1997, and then in 2001 to decimal pricing. Both NGC and PCGS offer a registry of American Colonial Coins that members can enter their PCGS & NGC (both for NGC, just PCGS for PCGS) coins in to compete and display their collections online. NGC’s full collection constitutes 68 coins / tokens and PCGS 71 coins / tokens, some of which are so rare that only a few exist. Neither NGC or PCGS have any “complete” collections listed in their registries – though PCGS has one that comes close. https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive/united-states/early-american-period/3002/ https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/colonial-coins/complete-sets-1616-1820/early-american-coins-tokens-complete-design-set-1616-1820/1045 The University of Notre Dame is my favorite public online resource on Colonial and early American Coins listing over 250 examples, with lots of pictures and terrific information and history. https://coins.nd.edu/colcoin/ Both the PCGS and NGC sets include some French Colonies coins, but no Spanish, Dutch or other non-British coins / tokens that were circulating in the American Colonies during the 17th & 18th centuries. Keep in mind that the St. Patrick’s Copper (New Jersey) was an Irish (Dublin mint) produced farthing that the General Free Assembly of West New Jersey adopted as currency to replace wampum. (New Jersey was 2 colonies – East / West until 1702). That’s how desperate they were for coinage – an Irish Quaker merchant named Newby brought a bunch of Irish farthings over in 1680 and they were officially adopted as local currency. To digress a bit further, wampum is a traditional shell bead (typically whelk or quahog clam shells) that were hand fashioned by women with stone tools that were used as currency by the Eastern Tribes. When Europeans came to the Americas, they adopted wampum as money to trade with the native peoples of New England and New York. Wampum was legal tender in New England from 1637 to 1661. It continued as currency in New York until 1673 at the rate of eight white or four black wampum equaling one stuiver, meaning that the white had the same value as the copper duit coin. The colonial government in New Jersey issued a proclamation setting the rate at six white or three black to one penny; this proclamation also applied in Delaware. (thank you again Wikipedia) While I have been a little discouraged that there are some 5 / 6 figure coins in this set that are always going to be out of reach (probably no Continental Dollar for me unless I luck into a winning lottery ticket – which reminds me I should buy a lottery ticket one of these days, preferably a winning one) I am finding a lot of joy over the years in looking through thousands of old corroded / worn / damaged tokens and coins to discover pieces of the puzzle. I also have included a few Dutch and Spanish coins in my growing collection and to authenticate them and display them as I prefer in my Lighthouse Album I’ve had a bunch of them graded and slabbed and I try to buy authenticated – as I am worried about potential misidentification or counterfeits (life is learning – I still have a lot of learning to do, which is one of the reasons the CoinTalk community and it’s contributors are so valuable). In any case, are there any other collectors of Colonial pieces who have thoughts on the process / collecting of same? Here’s a current list of my “top” graded collection (much of it is lower grade, in accord with my budget and habits). Most of my collection pieces cost around $100 – though a good number were half of that and some were double same – or more. My best Colonial piece is probably a PCGS slabbed VF Details 1799 Rhode Island token (propaganda piece the British produced to try and keep the Dutch out of the Revolutionary War) that was over $1100 with the fees and shipping from Great Collections, though my winning bid was $975. I’ve read here that there is a club for Colonial coin collectors which I do intend to join at some point. Is anyone a member or know anything about it? I’m curious as to what makes it worthwhile. What are your thoughts on Colonials & collecting same? Any favorites? Post pictures if you’ve got them! LIGHTHOUSE ALBUM – Colonial Coins 1. 1670 St. Patrick (New Jersey) Farthing PCGS G06 2. 1688 American Plantation 1/24 Real (Restrike) PCGS Genuine Damage F Detail 3. 1722 Woods Hibernia, Harp Right 1/2P ICG VG10 4. 1722 Rosa Americana “Utile Dulci” 1P NGC XF Details (Corrosion) 5. 1723 Woods Hibernia W-12900 1/2P ANACS VF25 6. 1723 Rosa Americana BR#122, KM#10 1P ICG F12 Details (Corrosion) 7. 1755 French Colonies, Golden Fleece (Beaver Pelt) Jeton, Lec-150, PCGS VF30 8. 1760 Hibernia Voce Populi 1/2P ANACS VG8 Details, Heavily Corroded 9. 1766 Pitt Medal, Bronze, Repeal of Stamp Act BHM-100, NGC VF25 BN 10. 1773 Virginia, Period 1/2P ANACS AG3 Details (Corrosion) 11. 1778 Machin’s Mills Copper V-12-78B ICG F12 Details (Corrosion) 12. (1779) Rhode Island Token, Wreath Below Ship, Brass PCGS VF Details, Damaged 13. 1781 North American Token PCGS VF20 14. 1783 Washington & Independence, Large Bust, NGC Fine Details, Damaged 15. 1783 Washington & Independence, No Button, Draped Bust , NGC VF Details, Damaged Bent 16. 1783 Georgivs Triumpho Token GW-54, Baker-7, SEGS F15 17. 1783 Small “US” Pointed Rays Nova Constellatio NGC Good Details, Environmental Damage 18. 1785 Pointed Rays, Nova Constellatio BR#1114 ICG G4 19. 1786 Vermont “Vermontensium” NGC AG Details, Scratches 20. 1787 Fugio Copper Cent, New#16H ICG F12 21. 1787 Connecticut, Draped Bust Left NGC VF Details, Environmental Damage 22. 1787 Connecticut, Draped Bust Left, R-4, Miller 33.39-s1 ICG F15 23. 1787 Connecticut Copper, Miller-14/H ICG G06 Details (Corrosion) 24. 1787 Connecticut Copper Miller 31.1/gg 1 ICG VF08 Details, Damaged 25. 1787 New Jersey Copper, Maris 38a, Clip ICG VF20 Details (Corrosion) 26. 1787 New Jersey Copper, Maris 38-Y, Clip ICG VF10 27. (1787) Auctori Plebis Uniface Token PCGS VG Details, Cleaned 28. 1787 Nova Eborac (New York) Copper, Seated Left PCGS VG08 29. 1787 Massachusetts 1C, ANACS VF20 Details, Plugged 30. 1788 Vermont, Bust Right, NGC VG Details (Corrosion) 31. 1788 Massachusetts, No Period, 1C, NGC Fine Details (Corrosion) 32. 1788 New Jersey, Maris 67-v, ANACS F12 Details (Corrosion) 33. (1788) Kentucky Cent, Plain Edge, PCGS F15 34. 1789 Mott, Thick Pl Edge, Token PCGS VF25 35. 1791 Washington, Large Eagle, 1 Cent ICG AG3 36. 1793 Washington Ship 1/2P, Letter Edge, NGC VG Details, Damaged 37. 1794 L.E. “New York” Talbot Allum & Lee 1C, NGC XF Details, Environmental Damage 38. 1794 Talbot/Howard London Token, Mule PCGS AU50 39. 1795 R.E. Small Buttons Washington “Grate” 1/2P NGC AU55 BN 40. 1796 Castorland Bronze (Restrike) E. Cornucopia, “BR” NGC UNC Details, Improperly Cleaned 41. 1783-MO FF 8 Reales ANACS F15 (“El Cazador” Shipwreck Certified) 42. 1783 Great Britain – Blockade of Gibraltar Medal ICG AU55 Details, Holed 43. 1792M Barbados Penny Copper NGC AU Details, Scratches, Cleaned 44. 1792 GB Warwickshire Token (Lady Godiva) D&H#235, ICG VF20 45. 1804-Mo TH Mexico 8 Reales KM#109, ICG G04 Details, Chopmarked 46. (1544-64) Spanish Dominican Republic 4M, Santo Domingo, Charles & Joanna NGC VF Details 47. 1644 Netherlands 1LD (Lion Dollar) Gelderland Dav-484, NGC XF45 48. 1690 Gun Money Shilling, Ireland (Civil War) ICG EF40, Details KM-100 May, Damaged (Corroded) 49. 1694 England 1/2P, William & Mary NGC VF Details, Environmental Damage 50. 1711D French Colonies 30D, (“New World Hoard”) NGC Genuine 51. 1738 Spain (Peru) 1 Real NGC XF Details, Scratches, En. Damage (Silver Cob) 52. 1767A French Colonies 12 Den ICG VF20, KM#6, Counterstamp “RF” 53. (1779) French Colonies Stampee Copper, Vlack-375, NGC XF Details, Bent 54. 1823-V R Spain De Vellon Coinage, 4 Reales, ANACS VG8 (1 Year Coinage Valencia Mint)
Those are nice. I like to look at them, but I have only bought a few during my 20 years in collecting. Thanks for showing them to us. I was watching a show about coins and one of the moderators said that "Thaler" was what we call "Dollar". Am I wrong or did I miss something?
I love the write up and am seriously fascinated with your collection. Something magical about colonial era America. My life long bucket list coin was the 1784 bar or USA copper and I finally achieved that goal not long ago. Other than that I have barely dipped my toes into colonial era coinage but is does fascinate me. Very, very cool collection.
Very nice, I have a very similar accumulation, but none of mine are slabbed. I am quite fond of the earlier issues and have a fair collection of the 1640 countermarked French pieces, and the Woods Hibernia and Rosa Americana pieces. You just have to get at least one piece of Massachusetts silver though!
Very very sweet.. I've been working on that "set" for quite a few years now. Really need to do an update on the gallery as there are at least 5-6 coins that have been added since my last update including a george 3 2 real, a questionable 93 chain cent (though it's in the LC album) and my biggest prize/addition to the set an oaktree shilling... Yeah she's "dug" and "cleaned" but I don't give a rats patooti Oh and yeah it probably is a repo but if so it's silver and a darn good copy... I'm still happy to have it for the set lol most of the set can be seen here: https://www.cointalk.com/media/albums/early-colonial-coppers.1931/?page=3
The hardest one was probably the 1779 Rhode Island token, just because they're scarce and expensive - I got lucky on a Great Collections auction that ended on a weekend (less action) where I was the only bidder. The Georgivs Triumpho was also a weekend auction and the pictures were bad and it's in a SEGS slab, the AuctionZip / Key Date auction didn't have much else in the way of colonials, so that was lucky for me - mostly Morgan action. I have more of a budget now (kids are out of college and job is going well, knock on wood) than I did ever before, but I'm still an opportunist looking for deals. I have had luck with bad pictures, weekend auctions, misidentified or misspelled items and items that just haven't sold so the seller is amenable to offers. It also helps me that I'm open to low grade Details pieces that a lot of collectors don't want, lol. Wow! Those are some top notch pieces! I'm hoping to put an oak tree or pine tree shilling in the collection one of these days, but dang, I'm finding even a G Details piece is $1000 these days, and I keep finding other things to add to the collection before I get the bank account up to the proper level (today's bargain best offer accepted was on a scarce 1783 Washington & Independence Small Bust with the Engrailed Edge in an ICG Details slab). I also hope to someday have a US Bar copper cent [Hat tip to Randy A.] and a 1793 cent. That'd be awesome!
Interesting question! The word dollar is the Anglicized version of the German word thaler (Czech tolar and Dutch word daalder or daler), a shortened version of the word Joachimthalers. The word thaler comes from the German root “thal” which means valley and “thaler” indicates a person or thing from the valley. https://www.czechcenter.org/blog/20...e word dollar is the,or thing from the valley.
Nice collection. For completeness, "Spanish" is an inaccurate and confusing term. The Spanish Colonies included mints in Mexico City, Lima (Peru), and Potosi (Bolivia) plus about a dozen other locations. Most of the coins were shipped to Spain, where they were melted, recoined as Spanish coins, and used to pay the Kings of Spain's vast debts. At least those that didn't get sunk in shipwrecks, stolen by the English, or generally otherwise diverted. (I have a cob from the Capitana wreck of 1654, which is one of the "lucky" ones. When the Capitana sank, there were supposedly 3 million pesos of silver on board. 4.5 million were salvaged in 1654 and the next few years [and 10 million supposedly were on board]. Those 4.5 million were put on board the Maravillas, which sank in 1656 off Grand Bahama Island. 2 million (ish) Pesos were salvaged from that wreck and sent to Spain, where the English seized them off Cadiz in 1656.)(And to thoroughly confuse things, the Capitana is not the name of a ship, it's the name given to the ship of the Captain of the fleet. It was actually the Jesus de Limpia de Consolacion that sank in October of 1654 off the coast of Chanduy, Ecuador.) By the time of US Independence, the cobs were mostly gone, replaced by milled coins, e.g. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces15059.html (My interest is the time of the 2 Charlies, Carolus III and Carolus IIII. Carolus III had a large and distinctive nose, and when he died on 14 December 1788, the colonies continued to mint coins using the bust of III but often numbered IV. Eventually, everyone got the memo and a picture to use for new coins, numbered IIII and without the nose that arrived 5 minutes before the rest of the king) After independence (27 September 1821), Mexico continued to mint 8 Reales and (gold) Escudos. The "Cap and Ray" design coins (https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces7394.html) were the most common coins used in the US until the Coinage Act of 1857. After independence (6 August 1825), Bolivian coins were minted in Sols (Silver) and Scudo (Gold), not Reales or Escudos. 1 Peso which used to be 8 reales was now 8 Soles. 1 (Gold) Scudo = 16 Soles. Throw the bums out, change the names, but don't screw with commerce! Peru (28 July 1821) (all in all it was a bad decade for Spain) continued to mint Reales (and gold Escudos) until 1857/1856. BTW, the Coinage Act of 1857 did not (as it is commonly described) outlaw the use of foreign coins. It ended the practice of Federal Tax Offices, Land Offices, and Post Offices of accepting them and then paying them back out. Instead, the coins were accepted (at a discount - the act imposed a 20% haircut) and sent to the US Mint to be recoined into Federal money. The 1857 act required the Secretary of the Treasury to report each year on the fineness of foreign coins commonly in circulation - you can see these tables in the Mint Director's annual reports at least until 1913.
You have a very nice collection of colonials, @Mlguy, congratulations! and also for your very interesting write-up. You have a very wide variety of coins, covering most of the types and States which issued coinage before the US mint started operations in 1793. (you mentioned a R.I Token? - did you show it?). What are my thoughts on pre-federal coinage? well, I am keenly interested in U.S history (even though I am a "foreigner", and do not live in the United States). I collect Spanisch Colonial coins as well as early United States coins. Therefore, the coins which circulated in America before 1793 are a natural extension of my collecting field, and one which I enjoy very much. These are some of the coin in my collection. Yes, I did splurge once back in 2007 and bought a MA silver piece (my wife will still not let me forget it). The other piece I have in my collection which has great significance to me is a William Pitt farthing, primarily due to its association with the Stamp Act and the impact that had on events leading onto the American Revolution. The majority of these I found locally in Europe, and most of them are not slabbed.
