I'm thinking about putting together a set of coins that would have circulated in the 13 Colonies during the Revolutionary War (1775 - 1781). Since I'm not an expert in this time period, I thought I'd ask CoinTalk for some help/advice. The purpose of this is for me to be able to give talks at local schools about the Revolutionary War and one way is to talk about (and show them) money of the period. Ideally, I would like to find coins that are recognizable (G - VF?). I know the Spanish Milled Dollar (8 Reale) and other Reale denominations circulated, but don't know what they sell for these days. Does anyone know what British coinage circulated in the Colonies (and what they might cost these days)? I would think the cheapest way would be to find reproductions of the expensive coins (Continental Dollar and the Willow Tree/Oak Tree/Pine Tree coins), but I'd like to know if there are actual Revolutionary War era coins that could be purchased at the $100 level (hopefully less). Looking at the Redbook, I see the Wood's Hibernia Coinage, Virginia Halfpennies and Hibernia-Voce Populi coins are possibilities. Any advice would be appreciated.
As a history buff of the colonial/revolutionary era, some of my first buys were of this era. First thing to know many are expensive. You maybe be able to find a Massachusetts or New Jersey coinage in your price range. Your first step though should be buying a reliable book on colonial coinage. The redbook gives only a cursory guide.
Probably the most common circulating coins were Spanish Silver and British halfpennies and farthings, both genuine and counterfeit. You could extend it a bit by adding the Virginia Halfpenny and maybe some French small change. The Massachusetts Silver was still around, but probably not so much in circulation by this time. The Continental Dollar was really never more than a pattern, not circulating coinage. Not coinage, but state and Continental Currency was in wide usage during this time as well.
What about those V.O.C. Dutch Duits? New York Pennies I've seen them called. Those are pretty cheap, and they're from the right time period more or less. http://www.ebay.com/itm/EARLY-DUTCH-COINS-1744-UTRECHT-COLONIAL-DOUBLE-LION-DUIT-/400283864321?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item5d32c70d01#ht_3925wt_1055 Also, the British pennies and half pennies from that era are fairly cheap too.
Thanks for the input so far. I am trying to avoid any coinage subsequent to 1781 which eliminates the New Jersey, Massachusetts, etc. coins. Does anybody know what the predominate circulating coinage was. I assume it was British, but the Spanish Milled Dollar seems to be mentioned frequently. I wasn't aware of the VOC Dutch Duits until I saw them on eBay. Additional comments/input welcomed/
I should have seen your 1781 cut off date. Just a suggestion, you may want to expand your search to 1783. The 1783 treaty ended The Revolutionary War. Some really nice coins, medals, and tokens were minted in 1783. Some of these are affordable and commemorate winning independence.
British copper, both genuine and counterfeit was definitely the most common. Spanish silver from Mexico and South America was the most common silver, as well as pistareens from Spain itself. There was also other foreign coins in circulation but these were the most often seen.
Most of the copper coins that circulated then were the British farthings and halfpence, both real and counterfeit. Forget the VOC Dutch Duits. Sellers like to call them New York Pennies but they had nothing to do with US circulation. They were struck to circulate in Indonesia and the Dutch were pretty much driven out of the US by 1660. There may have been some 1/2 sol and 1 sol and some minor French copper that wandered down from Canada but I've never hears much discussion about it with the exception of some in the western territories but they were still under french control at the time. Silver was almost exclusively Spanish and Spanish colonies. There were no significant coinages of British silver during that era. French coinages were done regularly but mintages were low and probably only for domestic use. Gold was once again the Spanish and Spanish colonies, 1 escudo to 8 escudo. The British were also coining gold at the time, 1/2 Guineas and 1 Guinea pieces would probably have circulated. There many have been a few French 1/2 Louis and 1 Louis as well but they would have probably been a small portion of the coinage.
