The Lord Baltimore penny is the first copper coin circulated in America. It, along with three silver coins, were made as a set specifically for

Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (8 August 1605 – 30 November 1675), also often known as Cecilius Calvert, was an English nobleman, who was the first Proprietor of the Province of Maryland, ninth Proprietary Governor of the Colony of Newf ...

. They were made for the Province of Maryland to be circulated in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

History

The Lord Baltimore penny is one of a series of four portrait coins ordered and made specifically for Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (also known as "Lord Baltimore") for circulation in the province of Maryland and has his portrait image on it. It is sometimes referred to as the Maryland penny. It is the first copper coin circulated in the American

. The designer of the dies for this special set of coins ordered by Lord Baltimore was Nicholas Briot. On October 12, 1659, Briot sent samples of the coins made in London to the secretary for Maryland, Philip Calvert, brother of Lord Baltimore. A letter from Briot came with the coin samples of a shilling, sixpence, groat and penny. Briot indicated he could make the necessary coins in London and then would sell them to the Maryland colonists. The letter suggested that the coins be promoted in the Province of Maryland for circulation as the usage of its money. Lord Baltimore then put this idea to the colonists for official adoption. At that time, between the time of the death of

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

in September 1658 and Philip Calvert becoming governor of Maryland, there was nothing done with the coinage. Philip Calvert became governor of Maryland in November 1660. He instigated and promoted the idea for a mint. On May 1, 1661, the Maryland Assembly passed an act to establish a mint in the colony. The act defined the exact coinage to be made and the value as related to the current coinage in use in England. An official Maryland mint never came about since an English council determined that this was beyond the original rights given in the charter of Maryland. The idea of a mint was dropped at that time, however Lord Baltimore had large supplies of various silver coins made for him in London and shipped to the colonists. He was paid for these coins in tobacco. It is not known how many of these silver coins were actually used in Maryland. The copper penny coin is very rare and only two are known to exist. The first one was found in England in 1819. The first printed mention of the piece is when it was sold to Englishman William Dinedale from a coin collection held by

James Bindley James Bindley (1737–1818) was an English official and antiquary, known as a book collector. Life The second son of John Bindley, a distiller, of St. John Street, Smithfield, London, he was born in London on 16 January 1737. He was educated at ...

, another Englishman. The coin collection was later sold in 1824 to Rev. Joseph Martin of Kent, England. The collection went from there to Londoner William Webster who bought the collection in 1859. It later was obtained by Joseph J. Mickley from Philadelphia. Michley's Lord Baltimore's copper penny went to a Mr. Stevens in 1867 for US $370. Stevens was an agent representing New York coin collector Charles I. Bushmell. Bushmell's collection was sold to Mr. Bock, a Philadelphia coin collector, in 1890 for US $550. Bock later turned his entire coin collection over to the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. The second Lord Baltimore copper penny was found by B.H. Collins, a well-known Washington D.C. coin collector, in a pile of old worn copper coins. This second specimen was bought also by Mr. Bock and it came with a set of English silver coins of shilling, sixpence, and groat made specifically for Lord Baltimore.

Lord Baltimore coins

The Lord Baltimore coin set consisted of four coins, three silver types and one copper type. On the

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

(front) of the coins is a bust of Lord Baltimore looking left. The 1659 coins were from England for an experiment of circulation. There is writing around the front Lord Baltimore image of these coins that reads "Caecilius, Dns: Terrae-Mariae" (''Cecil Lord of Mary's Land''). On the back side of the silver coins is an escutcheon with the Baltimore arms (

lozenge Lozenge or losange may refer to: * Lozenge (shape), a type of rhombus *Throat lozenge, a tablet intended to be dissolved slowly in the mouth to suppress throat ailments *Lozenge (heraldry), a diamond-shaped object that can be placed on the field of ...

shield with a coronet on top). Lord Baltimore's shilling silver coin has the Roman numerals "XII" to the right and left. The sixpence silver coin has "VI" and the groat silver coin has a "IV" to indicate fourpence. The shilling is 0.925 pure silver and weighs 66 grains. The Maryland sixpence silver coin is the same quality and weighs 34 grains. The shilling and sixpence are just under an inch in diameter. The Maryland groat silver coin came in two varieties with a small and large portrait and shield. It weighs 25 grains and is about a half inch in diameter. The Lord Baltimore penny copper coin was similar to the silver coins with the main difference being the back side. The reverse side of the copper penny is a duke's

coronet A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara doe ...

crown with two pennons flying in the center and the writing around this image of "Denarium Terrae-Mariae" (''Denarius of Mary’s land''). The diameter is about 13/16th of an inch, which is a size between that of the Lord Baltimore groat and sixpence coins, and it weighs 57.5 grains.

References

Sources

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External links

Provenance and picture of undated (1860s) Lord Baltimore PennyLord Baltimore Penny – Copper 5.2 grams
Historical currencies of the United States 1740s establishments in the Thirteen Colonies English-American culture in Maryland British-American culture in Maryland History of the Thirteen Colonies Economy of Maryland Province of Maryland