Coined for Maryland ca. 1658, Only Seven Specimens Are Known

(NEW YORK – July 11) The collectible population of one of the rarest and most historically important of all colonial issues has increased by 50% with the discovery of a newly discovered specimen, making a total of three Maryland denariums in private hands. A pair of metal detectorists working in the historic riverside community of Middlesex County, Virginia – near where the Rappahannock River meets the Chesapeake Bay – uncovered the tiny copper coin in the spring of 2007 and contacted Stack’s upon finding the extremely rare coin listed in the Guide Book of United States Coins and realizing they had discovered something of great importance.

While two examples of the Maryland denarium have sold at public auction in the last 25 years, those two examples appear to be the only other specimens in private hands from a total population of just seven coins. Specimens are known in institutional collections in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Smithsonian Institution (where two reside permanently), and the St. Mary’s County (MD) Historical Society. One of the Smithsonian coins and the St. Mary’s County coins were also dug up, apparently both in Maryland, as was the John Roper specimen (sold by Stack’s in 1983), which was found with a metal detector by a Maryland college student in 1977

While the coins struck in Boston for the Massachusetts Bay Colony beginning in 1652 correctly own the title of first coins struck for exclusive circulation in North America, the Boston Mint never struck any copper coins. In 1658, Maryland’s proprietor, Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, took advantage of the uniquely worded terms of his patent on the colony of Maryland to have coins struck for his American dominions. Silver coins were produced in shilling, sixpence, and fourpence (also known as a groat) denominations, but a small number of copper pieces were also struck. In keeping with the Latin inscriptions used on Calvert’s other Maryland (or Terra-Mariae) coins, the copper piece was called a denarium, the Latin form of penny. The pieces are so rare that few know of their existence beyond a line-entry in the Guide Book, and some have asserted they must be patterns based on their rarity. With most of the population tracing their provenance to American soil, however, it is clear that many pieces did reach their goal of American circulation – making them the first ever copper coins struck for what became the United States.

The tiny (20.5 mm) copper coin depicts Cecil Calvert on the obverse, while the reverse shows a crown and two flags with the legend DENARIUM TERRAE-MARIAE. The piece shows the usual patina of a copper coin found in the ground, but the condition is good enough for all legends to be complete. Its condition is similar to the two pieces in the Smithsonian and the piece at the St. Mary’s Historical Society. The John J. Ford Jr. example, sold by Stack’s in 2004, is the finest known by a significant margin

The coin will be sold in Stack’s Milwaukee sale, the J.A. Sherman Collection, slated for August 5, 2007 at the Hotel Metro in Milwaukee. For more information about this or other Stack’s offerings, call 212-582-2580 or online at www.stacks.com.