Q.David Bowers
Shortly after their arrival they killed 32 hogs and hundreds of other specimens of wildlife, mainly birds. By May 1610 two new ships of cedar, the Deliverance and the Patience, had been constructed and were stocked with provisions. On May 10, 1610, the adventurers sailed to Virginia, leaving just two people behind.
On June 19, 1610, Sir George Somers, then about 60 years of age, set sail on a ship of 30 tons weight to visit the Bermuda Islands again. Following an ardous journey, delayed by adverse weather, he finally arrived. Fortune did not attend him for long, and in the place called St. George's Island he died. In honor of Somers, the area became known as the Sommer (sic) Islands.
Sensing an economic opportunity, a group of 120 persons affiliated with the Virginia Company acquired the supposed right of the Virginia Company to the islands and separately obtained a patent from the king giving them authority over the area. Richard More was elected governor of the colony to be established there.
In July 1612 60 persons under the direction of Richard More arrived at the south side of Smith's Island. More governed until 1615, at which time he was succeeded by six governors, each of whom held the position for one month in alternation. Capt. John Smith's memoirs identify four of these governors as being Charles Caldicot, John Mansfield, Christopher Carter, and Miles Kendall.
Problems arose, and a new governor, Daniel Tucker, who was a planter from the Virginia Plantation, arrived in the middle of May 1616. Conditions had deteriorated. Tucker found that the colonists had fallen into idle ways, resenting leadership and avoiding labor. He instituted a strict administration and began the task of clearing trees, preparing timber, planting vines and fruits, and otherwise organizing the colony. Smith's memoirs note that at the time:
Beside meat, drink, and clothes, they had for a time a certain kind of brass money with a hog on one side, in memory of the abundance of hogs found at their first landing.
The Bermuda pieces, sometimes called "hogge money," properly belong to the British series, for Bermuda's political connection with the North American continent was severed when the Virginia Company claim was transferred in 1615. Even so, the Bermuda pieces; each of which depicts a wild hog on the obverse and a full-rigged sailing ship with the flag of St. George on the reverse, are traditionally included in American cabinets.
Pieces were struck in the denominations of twopence, threepence, sixpence, and shilling, bearing the denominations II, III, VI, and XII, respectively. It is presumed that the coins, which exist in several die variations, were struck in England. Made of copper alloy, the pieces were apparently given a light silver coating at the time of issue. Today, all Bermuda coins are of extreme rarity.
Massachusetts Silver Coinage 1652-1682
In the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony commodities, including grain, fish, cattle, and furs, were used as currency in the channels of commerce. From time to time Indian wampum or shell money, first brought into Massachusetts by the Dutch in 1627, served in trade at set values established by the General Court -. In 1635 the legislature enacted a provision which ordered that musket bullets of a full bore shall pass currently for a farthing apiece, provided that no man may be compelled to take above XII pence at a time in them. At the same time, British farthing coins in circulation were rendered invalid as currency. The intent of this legislation is unclear. Crosby, in The Early Coins of America notes:
The purpose of this order may have been to compel a more thorough distribution of the munitions of war, which at that time were liable to be called into requisition at a moment's warning, rather than the desire to drive from circulation the small brass or copper coins of English origin which must have formed a much more agreeable medium of exchange than the bulky and inconvenient substitute here authorized.
From time to time legislation was enacted regulating the value of wampum, agricultural products, and other goods in commerce. For example, on September 27, 1642, it was ordered that wheat and barley should pass at the rate of four shillings per bushel, rye and peas at three shillings, four pence per bushel, and Indian corn at two shillings, six pence per bushel in payment of certain levies.
Although British, Spanish, and other coins were occasionally seen in circulation in early Massachusetts, ap-parently a large part, possibly the majority, of commerce, was done on a barter basis. In October 1640, the shortage of circulating coins as money caused financial hardship. John Winthrop, first governor of the colony, noted in his journal:
The scarcity of money made a great change in all commerce. Merchants could sell no wares but for ready money. Men could not pay their debts though they had enough, prices of lands and cattle fell soon to the one half and less, yea to a third, and after one fourth part.
The Massachusetts General Court on September 27, 1642, took its initial action to establish the value of foreign coins:
This court, considering the oft occasions we have of trading with the Hollanders at the Dutch plantation and otherwise, do therefore order that the Holland ducatour being worth 3 guilders shall be current at 6 shillings in all payments within our jurisdiction, and the rix dollar being 2 1/2 guilders shall be likewise current at 5 shillings, and the real of 8 shall be also current at 5 shillings.
Small English gold coins known as marks and nobles were also occasionally used in Massachusetts. For example, the records dated October 18, 1645, note that "The court, being often troubled with suits of particular persons, does order that Mr. Smith shall pay 20 nobles for defraying the charges of the court in hearing his case ... " A 1690 citation observed that "The magistrates ordered that the said Thomas Hawkins pay 20 marks in money for the charges of his prosecution and imprisonment."
As time went on, the quantity of foreign coins in circulation increased sharply, particularly with regard to issues of England, Holland, and Spain, mainly acquired through extensive trade with the West Indies and with the European Continent. The value of such pieces was often subject to doubt, for counterfeits were abundant, and often coins showed excessive wear or evidence of clipping (removing pieces of metal from the edge). It was proposed that an official appointed by Massachusetts weigh and test individual coins and cause an official stamp to be impressed upon them, thus certifying their authenticity and weight. This proposal ran into difficulties, and it is not likely that many coins were stamped accordingly.