How to Classify Colonial American Coins?
Courtesy Peter Jones
This is a complex subject, but we have to pick our definitions. First: What is colonial? The first colony in what is now America. That was Saint Augustine in 1565, which was then Spanish. So we have to say a British colony. That was Roanoke, Virginia. But that was not a successful colony - it was probably wiped out. So we have to say the first successful British colony in what is now America, which was Jamestown in 1607.
When did the Colonial period end? Some say the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Some say after the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. Some say the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which recognized USA as an independent country. Others seem to feel that we did not really become USA until the Federal government displaced the Confederation Congress' Articles of Confederation, which had been marked by limited governmental powers, and a unicameral legislature with just one vote for each state. Some say, "Colonial" = coins made before the Philadelphia Mint opened in 1793.
America printed continental currency that said United States of America in 1777. Most would agree on the Federal US starting by 1789, and many agree on the US starting before that. But many colonial collectors just collect what is in the Red Book, even if it was minted after the USA was no longer a British Colony.
RED BOOK CLASSIFICATION
FOREIGN SPECIE pages 2-5
COLONIAL ISSUES pages 6-22:
COINS: Bermuda, MA silver, Lord Baltimore, St. Patrick, Wood's Rosa and Hibernia, VA 1/2 d
TOKENS: Elephant, Higley, Voce Populi, Pitt, Rhode Island, Chalmers
FRENCH
POST-COLONIAL ISSUES pages 23-50 They still list Continental Currency, which we now know is a medal not money
Private speculative issues after 1783: Nova Constellatio, Immune Columbia, and Confederatio & related Issues
State Coinage: VT, MA, CT, NY & Machin's, NJ
Private Tokens
Washingtonia
CONTRACT ISSUES AND PATTERNS pages 51-54
Nova Constellatio Patterns, Fugio Cents, 1792 Patterns
PETER JONES' VERSION
COMMON FOREIGN TRADE COINS
COLONIAL:
British Royal authorized coins, e.g., Baltimore, Holt, Woods, 1749 regal copper, Virginia
French Royal made for colonies, or domestic export to colonies - a complex subject in itself
Tokens and coins made in America e.g., MA silver, Higley coppers, Chalmers
Imported Tokens, St. Patrick 1681, Voce Populi 1760, Pitt Tokes 1766
POST-COLONIAL (Confederation period) - State coinage and Imitation halfpence
OTHER:
Washingtonia
Private Speculative Issues
Fugios Confederation's first coin. Fugios used to be called coppers, but original documents now show they were cents.
Coins that should not be in the Red Book or were virtually never used.
Colonial coins that should not be in the Red Book
Any coin or token made after 1792 should not be in the Red Book. This includes:
1796 Myddelton Token
1796 Castorland token
1817-1818 Texas Jola
1820 Northwest Company token
1820 struck North American token, backdated to 1781
1807-1830 Mott Token
Little used pieces that 99.9% of people never saw or used
1616 Hogge Money
1668 New Yorke Token
1694 Elephant Token
1714 Gloucester Token
1760 & 1789 Florida 4 Reales Proclamation pieces
1790 Albany Church penny
1792 patterns (all are six-figure coins, and many are seven-figure!) Are they colonial? No, they are federal patterns!