Q.David Bowers
In 1771 and the following year correspondence between England and Virginia considered the need for copper coins in commerce. On April 8, 1772, an act was passed authorizing the treasurer of Virginia to import 1,000 pounds value of specially-minted halfpennies, subject to British regulations. On May 20, 1773, the British crown authorized the coinage of halfpennies for Virginia, not to exceed a total of 25 tons weight. This was five times the quantity requested by the colony.
In February 1774 the ship Virginia under the command of Edward Esten arrived in Virginia with five tons of halfpence, which Eric P. Newman, student of the series, has equated to about 672,000 individual pieces. The obverse of each piece bore the portrait of King George III facing right, with the inscription GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA ("George III, by the grace of God") surrounding. The reverse depicted the coat of arms of Virginia with the date 1773 and with VIRGI to the right and the remainder of the name, NIA, to the left. In his 1956 monograph on the subject, Eric P. Newman described 22 die varieties of the Virginia pieces.
Robert Nicholas, treasurer of Virginia, was reluctant to distribute the halfpennies in absence of specific instructions from Britain authorizing him to do so. On November 16, 1774, a royal proclamation provided that:
The said pieces of copper money so coined, stamped, and impressed, shall be current and lawful money of and in our said colony of Virginia and of and within the districts and precincts of the same; and shall pass and be received therein after the rate following, that is to say, twenty-four of the said pieces shall pass and be received for the sum of one shilling, according to the currency of our said province of Virginia ...
The pieces were made current up to the value of 60 halfpence for a payment of 20 shillings or more and up to 24 halfpence for smaller payments. This proclamation did not arrive in Virginia until several months later. The first notice appeared in the Virginia Gazette on February 23, 1775. By that time the seeds of the Revolutionary War had been sown. Fears of war and inflation were rampant, causing all metallic coins to be hoarded. Although pieces did circulate extensively in the colony (as evidenced today by the presence of wear on specimens, and also, as reported by Eric P. Newman, the finding of Virginia halfpennies together with other contemporary coins in archeological excavations) apparently a large number were hoarded. Today many of the Uncirculated halfpennies which exist trace their pedigree to the large group in the collection of Col. Mendes I. Cohen, Baltimore, Maryland, which was obtained in an original keg from Richmond. This cache, which apparently consisted of many thousands of pieces, was dispersed slowly and carefully from 1875 until 1929, in which latter year the remaining 2,200 coins were dispersed at auction in one lot.
In 1774 a limited number of impressions were struck in silver from dies of the same diameter as the halfpenny but with the obverse portrait of George III much larger in size. Traditionally, these have been known as Virginia" shillings" due to their metallic content, but the weight falls about ten percent below the English standards for shillings at the time, and no official shilling coinage was contemplated for Virginia. Accordingly, these 1774 pieces are better described as pattern half pennies in silver. Another interesting rare issue is the so-called 1773 copper "penny," a halfpenny struck in Proof grade on a broad planchet with a milled border. This was on an Irish 1/2d blank.
Coinage for the French Colonies
On February 19, 1670, Louis XIV authorized coinage for general use in the French possessions in America, including Canada and the West Indies. Coined at the time were silver pieces of the denominations of 5 sols and 15 sols. Of the former 200,000 were struck, and of the latter 40,000 were coined.
In December 1716 the regent for Louis XV authorized the coinage of 6-denier and 12-denier copper pieces to be struck at the Perpignan Mint in France. Problems developed with the quality of the copper to be used, and only a few pieces were struck. Some additional pieces under this authorization are dated 1720, but the origin of these has been questioned. The 1717-1720 issues are of great rarity.
Earlier (1709-1713), coinage of billon metal of the denominations of 15 deniers and 30 deniers, and later (1738-1764), half sou marque and sou marque, were coined in quantity at various mints in France and were circulated throughout the colonies. None bore a specific legend or reference to the Americas, however.
In June 1721 Louis XV authorized a copper coinage for the colonies, with the designation COLONIES FRANCOISES on each. These pieces, copper so us of the value of 9 deniers, were struck at the Rouen ("B" mintmark) and La Rochelle ("H"mintmark) mints in 1721 and, the following year, 1722, at the La Rochelle Mint.
While the earlier French colonies issues could claim a relation to Louisiana, which was ceded to Spain (areas west of the Mississippi river) in 1762 and to England (areas east of the Mississippi) in 1763, another French colonies issue struck in copper and dated 1767 is related only to the. West Indies.
The copper issues, though made in large quantities, were not particularly popular with the colonists.
Higley Copper Coinage
Among the most interesting of all early American issues are the copper tokens struck circa 1737-1739 by Dr. Samuel Higley, of Granby, Connecticut. Higley, a medical doctor with a degree from Yale College, also practiced blacksmithing and made many experiments in metallurgy. In 1727 he devised a practical method of producing steel.
In 1728 Higley purchased property on a hill near Granby which furnished the site for many copper mines, the most famous' being the extensive mine corridors and shafts which were later used as the Newgate Prison. Mines on the hill were worked extensively during the early and middle 18th century. In October 1773 the Connecticut General Assembly passed an act which pertained to the various subterranean caverns and external buildings of the copper mines in Simsbury and converted them for use as a public jail and workhouse. Phelps, in his History of the Copper Mines in Newgate Prison at Granby, Connecticut, notes that:
The prisoners were to be employed in mining. The crimes, by which the acts subjected offenders to confinement and labor in the prison, were burglary, horse stealing, and counterfeiting the public bills or coins, or making instruments and dies therefore.
By the time Newgate Prison was abandoned in 1827, the buildings had been destroyed by fire three times. The cruel, dark, damp conditions precipitated numerous revolts and violent incidents. Escapes were frequent.
Following his 1728 purchase, Dr. Samuel Higley operated a small but thriving mining business which extracted exceptionally rich copper. Much if not most of the metal was exported to England. Sometime around the year 1737 Higley produced a copper token. The obverse depicted a standing deer with the legend THE VALUE OF THREE-PENCE. The reverse showed three crowned hammers with the surrounding legend, CONNECTICUT, and the date 1737.