The story of the coinage of the United States covers a nearly 400 year period, from 1620 to today. Since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and the country was “official” in 1787, what did the original settlers and later colonists use for money?
The first settlers traded with the Native Americans for furs and commodities that could be traded with Europe. The first immigrants had little use for money originally, but when merchandise arrived from Europe, coins were usually demanded in payment for goods.
Nearly all foreign coins were accepted for payment. The most popular were the French Louis, English guineas, German thalers (we get “dollar” from this word), Dutch ducats, and various Spanish coins, the most notable being the Spanish milled dollar, or piece of eight. In fact, this coin continued to be a standard money unit through the entire colonial period. The United States ended this practice in 1859. If you find a piece of eight, or a half, quarter, or one-eighth piece, in a family heirloom desk, it doesn’t mean your great-great-great grandpa was a conquistador. Instead, he probably obtained the coin in everyday commerce.
Since these 13 colonies were all subject to the British, you would assume British coinage would be provided for the colonists. Instead, the British ignored this problem and made no effort to provide coins in any form. As a result, a wide variety of foreign coins and tokens were pressed into use.
The first colonial coins minted here were from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, from 1652 to 1682. This was in defiance of British law, so this might have been our first small “declaration of independence” from Great Britain.
Lord Baltimore sent Maryland small silver coins made in England in 1659. Mark Newby imported from Ireland the St. Patrick’s halfpence to New Jersey in 1682. From 1722 to 1724, William Wood produced the Rosa Americana coins in England and these were widely circulated in the colonies.
Enterprising colonists got in on the coin minting action, too. The Granby brothers of Connecticut made threepence coins from 1737 to 1739. John Chalmers, a silversmith of Annapolis, made coins in 1783. In 1786 and 1787, Ephraim Brasher, a New York goldsmith, struck gold coins in the value of a doubloon, about $15 at the time. Brashers’ doubloons come up for auction occasionally, and sell for millions of dollars.
Following our Revolutionary War, the new nation went through a tumultuous period. Americans were suffering from economic depression, a shortage of currency, high taxes, and foreclosures. From 1781 to 1795, still more English and American made copper pieces were added to great variety of our coinage.
Our Articles of Confederation from 1781 stated that Congress would have the sole right to regulate the coins struck by itself or by the individual states. So, from 1785 to 1788, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts all produced coins. Many of these were struck in fairly large quantities and are quite collectible.
After the ratification of the Constitution, the new nation reserved the sole right to produce coinage. Congress approved the establishment of a mint in 1791. In July of 1792, our first coin, the half-disme, was produced, and the federal government slowly began to produce our nation’s coinage.
A great, inexpensive resource is readily available on these pre- and post-colonial coins: The annual Redbook, or A Guide Book of United States Coins, available at nearly any bookstore. If you don’t have a current one, the 2015 version will soon be released and I would advise you to wait for that one. This book features color photographs of the coins, mintage figures, and a ballpark price guide for each coin.
Do you have an interest in coins? Visit the Brown County Coin Club on the second Tuesday of each month, at 6:30 pm, at Principally Coins and Metal Detectors, at 3002 Early Blvd, in Early. Meetings provide a great opportunity to learn all about coin collecting.We hope to see you on January 14 for our next meeting. Call Robert Rollins at 325-201-6390 or me at 325-217-4129 for more information.
Pictured above – Brasher’s doubloon. Note “EB” counterstamp.
