Colonial Coins:

Even before the United States was an independent country, there were coins circulating in the Colonies. Coins from England, France, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Austria, Holland, and other countries around the world were used by the colonial settlers to buy goods and pay their debts. But since they were all different denominations, sizes, and weights, it was exceedingly difficult to conduct commerce easily.

A number of early private mints and a few of the colonies struck coins for use within their own borders but many of those coins were widely accepted anywhere in America as all coinage was scarce. Some of the colonies struck their own coinage as early as 1652 when Massachusetts struck silver coins for circulation. Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and other Colonies followed suit. It wasn’t until 1776 when the first Continental Currency coins were authorized by the newly formed government, based on a design by Benjamin Franklin, all while the fledgling country was fighting for its own independence.

Colonial coins, tokens and medals are true pieces of the earliest history of America. Around 1790, some private mints even struck coins depicting President George Washington in hopes their coins would be selected as the new coinage for the United States. There is no telling which of the Founding Fathers of the United States may have held and used these colonial coins. You are truly holding history in your hands.