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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2602018, member: 81887&quot;]I own this Virginia halfpenny from 1773:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]568120[/ATTACH] </p><p>There was a chronic shortage of circulating coinage in Britain&#039;s American colonies.&nbsp; Much of this was a result of British monetary policy, which wanted to see specie (gold and silver) flowing from the colonies to the mother country, not the other way around.&nbsp; Copper or bronze coinage was often not worth the expense of shipping overseas.&nbsp; So the colonists made do with whatever foreign coins they could get their hands on, as well as various private tokens, unofficial and counterfeit issues, as well as various non-coin substitutes such as paper money, wampum (Native American bead money), and commodities such as tobacco and furs.&nbsp; The Virginia halfpenny of 1773 was an exception: officially authorized by the British government and struck in Britain, then shipped to the colonies for use.&nbsp; Note the overall very British design, but with &quot;VIRGI-NIA&quot; along the reverse edges.&nbsp; These coins were apparently well-received by the colonists, and many have been found by metal detectorists, especially in Virginia and Maryland.&nbsp; I am primarily an ancients collector, but I couldn&#039;t resist the history behind this coin.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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