History of British Coinage in Colonial North America

Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, British coinage formed the monetary backbone of North America’s colonial economy. Pounds, shillings, and pence circulated alongside Spanish silver dollars, Dutch coins, and locally struck tokens—clear evidence of a persistent shortage of official British currency.
Spanish pieces of eight and the Dutch Lion Dollar became the colonies’ preferred standards of trade, while Irish-minted halfpennies issued under British rule saw wide daily use. In response to the scarcity of sterling coin, colonial governments produced paper notes and base-metal tokens loosely tied to British denominations, creating a complex patchwork of regional exchange systems.
Even after independence, British coins continued to pass through American hands, their familiar imagery reminding a new nation of its imperial past and the global networks that.

Regal British Copper Coinage: Introduction

Regal British Coppers in the Colonies

During the first decades of the English colonization of North America the settlers needed to obtain their own small change. As we have seen there was some use of British patent farthings and trade tokens especially in the middle colonies of New York, Pennsylvania and down to Virginia. Massachusetts banned the use of tiny patent farthings in 1635 in favor of musket balls, which probably meant these coins were rather rare in New England after that date. During much of the seventeenth century is seems wampum and commodities served as the primary substitutes for coppers. In 1681 St. Patrick coppers were brought to brought to New Jersey and in 1688 Holt was unsuccessful with his American Plantations Token made of tin.
The only small change coins to gain general acceptance throughout the colonies were British coppers. Although British silver and gold coins were not allowed to be exported to the colonies, there was no restriction on the export of coppers. It has been estimated some £69,000 in farthings and halfpence were exported to the American colonies from 1695 to 1795.

It seems some regal English halfpence began to appear in America soon after minting began in 1672. It is sometimes thought the earliest known supply of regal coppers to arrive in America was £300 of halfpence and farthings mentioned in The Loyal Impartial Mercury newspaper article of October 2-6, 1682, that was brought to Philadelphia by a group of Quakers. As discussed in the English trade token section it seems more probable these coins were demonitized trade tokens. However, the article did mention that British halfpence and farthings traded for twice their value in America. This indeed was the case in Philadelphia and New York, and knowledge of this fact in England may have induced settlers and travellers to take a quantity of these coins with them when the sailed for the colonies.

However, the first significant influx of coppers seems to have occurred during the years of the extensive copper production of William III, that is 1695-1701. On June 21, 1698 a group of fifty three Philadelphia merchants sent a petition to the General Assembly complaining about lead and pewter halfpence and farthings then in circulation which customers were trying to pass off for double their value. The petition requested that, "...all such farthings & halfpence that are made of Lead & pewter may be wholly suppresed & Cryed Down and only those of Copper which are the Kings Coyn may pass the farthings for two a penny the half pence for a penny." This seems to indicate a period of transition when regal coppers were becoming available but had not yet fully replaced less valuable lead and pewter tokens previously in use. Apparently by 1698 the merchants felt the quantity of regal coppers available was large enough so that the troublesome lead and pewter coins could be suppressed.

Also, some early copper halfpence have been uncoverd at American colonial sites. Among the coins found in Philadelphia in 1975 during the construction of Interstate 95 were two 1694 William and Mary copper halfpence, two William III 1700 halfpence and an early 1681 Charles II copper Irish halfpenny. Additionally, several William III halfpence have been uncovered in the Hannah town and Fort Ligonier, Pennsylvania area excavations. Several New York City, Philadelphia and Boston newspaper articles from the 1750's mention regal William III halfpence had been in circulation for decades (these are articles on the influx of counterfeit halfpence; for specific quotes see the British counterfeit coppers introduction).

From around the start of the Eighteenth century through the 1740's it appears quantities of regal British halfpence and farthings (as well as some regal Irish issues) came to the colonies. Besides the coins mentioned above, the Philadelphia Highway find also contained regal British halfpence dated: 1719, 1722, 1723, 1724, 1730, 1731, 1734, 1737, 1738, 1746, 1750, 1771, 1772 and 1775 as well as Irish halfpence of: 1723 (Wood's Hibernia), 1737, 1750, 1752, 1776, 1781 and an example from 1804. That this single location shows such an extensive mix of dates of regal coppers, is further evidence of their continual importation. For a full listing of British coppers uncovered in the Philadelphia find.
 

Although regal coppers were arriving in the colonies there was still an insufficient quantity of small change. Taking advantage of this situation in 1722-1724 William Wood attempted to introduce his lightweight Rosa Americana pieces in the colonies. Although there was a need for small change, the colonists rejected these lightweight products. Massachusetts resorted to printing pence notes on parchment rather than using the despised Rosa coins. English regal coppers were the preferred small change coins and their importation continued.

The first recorded large scale shipments of British coppers date to 1734 and 1735, when the colony of Georgia was being established. An agreement was made between the trustees of the colony and the king to ship tons of halfpence and farthings to the colony where they would circulate at face value.
As British coppers entered the colonial economy in larger quantites during 1730's-1750's a problem arose over their value, since they usually traded at a premium, higher than face value. This sometimes caused a problem as is seen in the following two episodes from New York and Philadelphia.

On December 16, 1737 New York passed an act stating:

Whereas for some years past great quantities of English copper halfpence and farthings have been from time to time imported into this colony which have been and are paid and received in the Markets and other payments by Common consent of the People at a higher rate that their Insrinsik Value and

Whereas by the Conveniency of such copper money passing in Small payments the Importation of the Same is still continued...

The problem was not with the coppers but with their valuation. Since coinage was at a premium in the colonies most coins were accepted above their face value. British and Irish coppers were no exception. In New York English halfpence were accepted at twice their face value, so twelve British halfpence equaled a New York shilling of account. As New York valued the Spanish dollar at eight shillings, one could obtain a Spanish dollar for 96 British halfpence. Whereas in Boston, it took eighteen British halfpence to equal a Massachusetts shilling and, as they value the Spanish dollar at six shillings, a Spanish dollar cost 108 British halfpence. In Philadelphia there appear to have been various rates at this time, one rate was fifteen British halfpence to the Pennsylvania shilling. As Pennsylvania valued the Spanish dollar at 7s6d (90d), a Spanish dollar could be obtained for 112.5 British halfpence in Philadelphia if someone was using the fifteen halfpence rate (another lower rate that came into general use in Philadelphia during the Confederation era was 14 British halfpence to the shilling or 105 halfpence to the Spanish dollar). Clearly it was advantageous to bring coppers to New York and exchange them for Spanish dollars. Bostonians obtained a 12.5% profit and some Philadelphians could reap a 17% profit. New York first handled this situation by limiting copper imports from other colonies. However, they still accepted casks of coins brought over from England.

In Philadelphia the problem of copper valuation led to a demonstration on January 2, 1741. Some merchants were accepting British halfpence at the New York rate of double (100%) their value, so that one halfpenny equalled one Pennsylvania penny. Other merchants were trading them at only 60% over face value, so that five halfpence equalled four Pennsylvania pence. The situation was so confusing and disruptive that on January 2nd the city bakers refused to open their shops causing a minor crisis. This event forced the city and the merchants to work together to end this problem. The result was an edict by the mayor of Philadelphia on June 18, 1741 stating:

Whereas the Currency of English Half-pence in this Province, has long been found convenient for the Use of Inhabitants, for small Change; but the Value or Rate at which they should pass not having been settled by any Authority, they have often received at too high a Value, by Reason whereof great Quantities of Half-pence were imported from the Neighboring Colonies, and exchanged for our Gold and Silver,

And whereas at a late General Meeting of the Merchants and others, it was agreed that the said Half-pence should be received at Fifteen for One Shilling, current Money of this Province, which was judged to be the nearest to such Value as might discourage too great a Quantity being imported, and at the same Time prevent their being carried away.

[it is declared]...any Person or Persons who shall refuse to receive English Half-pence in small Payments, at the Rate of Fifteen English Half-pence for One Shilling, ought to be deemed a Disturber of the Publick Peace of the Province.

Valuation had not been a major problem in Massachusetts. Their rate of exchange had been sufficiently high so that they needed more coppers. Indeed, as is discussed in our colonial currency site, at the time they were flooded with paper currency rather than hard coin. Their needs were finally addressed in 1749 when the largest shipment of British coppers to be sent to the colonies arrived in Boston on the ship The Mermaid.  The British parliament sent Massachusetts Bay almost twenty-one long tons of Spanish silver coins (653,000 troy ounces in 217 chests) as well as ten long tons of English coppers (in one hundred casks), in order to reimburse the Colony for the assistance it provided to the Lewisburg expedition on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, during the French and Indian War. According to the Massachusetts Currency Reform Act of January 26, 1749 the total reimbersment was equivalent to £183,649 2s7 and 1/2d in British sterling. The coppers included over 800,000 halfpence and more than 420,000 farthings all dated 1749; approximately thirty percent of the entire mintage for the year.

Although the shipment had long been expected the space the coins took up was more than the colonists had anticipated. The ship arrived in Boston harbor on Monday September 18, 1749 and the commander of the Mermaid Captain Montague along with one of the colonies London agents, William Bollan, who had accompanied the shipment from England, went to the Governor's Board to inform them they could take possession of the funds. However, the shipment was so large there was no place to secure the coins! The records of the General Court states the situation unfolded as follows:

Voted, that Ezekiel Lewis & Samuel Danforth, Esquires go with Mr. Treasure Foye to his House in King's Street, & see if there be any convenient Place for Lodging the publick Money there, & treat with the Tenant about her Removal in Order to the Treasurer & his familys removing thither. 

Mr. Lewis reported thereupon that the Committee had viewed the House (which they found well accommodated for receiving the said Money) & discoursed with the Tenant, who could by no Means be persuaded to remove out of it. 

Voted thereupon, That a brick Arch be built in the Cellar of the House where the Treasurer now dwells for the Reception of the Province Money from on board his Majesty's Ship Mermaid as soon as may be, & that Samuel Danforth & Andrwe Oliver Esquire assist the Treasurer in the said Affair.       (Crosby, p. 227; King's Street is now known as State Street)

By the 1750's and 1760's the valuation problem was being resolved as each colony learned to regulate copper values based on regional standards. However, another potentially more serious problem arose. During the 1740's larger quantities of counterfeit halfpence started appearing in Britain and soon these coins found their way to the colonies. In 1753 in New York an examination of a bag of coppers arriving from England showed out of a total of 2,880 halfpence there were 864 cast counterfeits. Due to the influx of counterfeits New York merchants lowered the rate at which they would accept halfpence from twelve to fourteen to the New York shilling. This led the New York Assembly to pass an act on December 12, 1753 against the importation or passing of counterfeit halfpence and farthings. They imposed a £100 fine for importing counterfeit coins while for knowingly passing counterfeit coppers one was fined ten times the amount of the coppers passed. Also, as the merchants were already accepting British coppers at a lower rate, in January the city of New York officially lowered the value of the halfpenny to fourteen to the New York shilling.

The Maryland Gazette of February 28, 1754 stated both genuine and counterfeit English halfpence were circulating in the colony and that those coins were overvalued by 25% in relation to Maryland paper currency. At the time copper halfpence were trading at a rate of eighteen to the Maryland shilling. Maryland's financial position was rather peculiar in that the colony invested in shares of the Bank of England and used these sterling based shares to back their currency. Thus, while they could legislate 18d in Maryland paper currency equalled 1s sterling, the fact was, that 18 British copper halfpence equalled only 9d sterling (this was 25% less than the paper currency!). When using British coins they could not legislate a sterling value above the British value. The Gazette article recommended using the Pennsylvania rate of 15 halfpence to the shilling (which would make the overvaluation even worse) but at the same time they proposed devaluing counterfeit halfpence to a rate of 48 per Maryland shilling (that would be four counterfeit halfpence per pence or 72 per shilling sterling). Apparently the author thought the lower valuation of the counterfeits would make up for the overvaluation of the genuine coppers. This proposal never went forward. However it does show the problems individuals were facing over valuation and the influx of counterfeits.

There are very few references to farthings in the colonies from the period after mid century. Quite possibly this was because by 1760 the majority of coppers sent over from Britain were counterfeit and it was much more profitable for counterfeiters to make halfpence than it was to produce farthings. As a large quantity of regal farthings had been sent to Massachusetts in 1749, the coin seems to have circulated in New England until at least 1765. Eric Newman has uncovered five different broadsides or pamphlets stating the value of coppers in New England during the period 1750-1765. The most complete was printed by William Goddard in Providence, Rhode Island on January 1, 1764. His list, which includes the use of farthings, converts British halfpence into colonial shillings of account (called Lawful Money) as follows:

The 1 and 1/2 halfpence refers to a farthing and a halfpenny or three farthings. In a broadside of August 1, 1765 printed by Daniel and Robert Fowle in Portsmouth, New Hampshire it specifically states "3 English Farthings" traded at 1d Lawful Money. This shows farthings were still encountered (at least in New England) after mid century.

[Note on the chart: The British column is in the number of halfpence while the Lawful Money column is in local pence, thus 6 British halfpence (which equals 3d sterling) is equivalent to 4d (8 halfpence) in Lawful Money of the colony. Lawful Money is the term used for the legal exchange rate between British sterling and the colony's money of account based on the rate established in Queen Anne's Proclamation of 1704, in which colonial money of account could not drop below one third of British sterling.]

In the later colonial era British halfpence were quite common, but most were counterfeit. Although there was concern, this did not stop the use of the coins. Indeed in December of 1768 North Carolina passed an act encouraging the importation of British halfpence, which were to pass at twelve per shilling, but the act was repealed by the king. These British coppers, both regal and counterfeit, continued to be used even after the revolution. On March 5, 1787, the New York State legislature produced a report discussing the principle coppers then in circulation. The report stated the investigation committee:

...find that there are various sorts of copper coins circulating in this State, the principal whereof are,

First.   A few genuine British half-pence of George the Second, and some of an earlier date, the impressions of which are generally defaced. 

Secondly.   A number of Irish half-pence, with a bust on one side and a harp on the other.

From this and related reports it has been suggested that all George III halfpence in America were counterfeit. Although most were counterfeit it seems a few regal George III coppers did circulate in America. Until recently most coin inventories listed the dates but not the weights of the coins, so determining regal from counterfeit examples not always possible based on the published data. However in the recent excavations of Fort Ligioner and the surrounding area in western Pennsylvania full weight George III halfpence have been uncovered. For further details on this and on counterfeits see the sections on Counterfeit British Coppers and the American Imitation British Halfpence.