What is a 'Colonial Coin'?

'Colonial Coin' is shorthand for the myriad state, pre-federal, private and foreign coinage issues which circulated in early America.

For years, the Redbook has been the defacto 'bible' defining exactly which coins this includes, and thus which coins are sought by many collectors. And it is the Redbook listings which serve as the basis for which coins are considered to be colonial and thus slabbed as such by the major grading services.

But there are many experts who have a different view of what should be deemed colonial based on which coins were actually struck in the colonies, or which are known with certainty to have circulated here. It is generally understood, for example, that some issues which have been listed in the Redbook for years probably never saw early America.

Based on ongoing research, the coins which are accepted as a colonial (and even what name is best used to describe these issues) is likely to evolve and change over time.

In the meantime, we will generally adhere to the current convention to determine which coins to include in this section, while noting the issues with a spurious colonial connection and adding a few particularly interesting or important issues which we feel should rightfully be considered part of the series, but which have not (yet) been accorded such stature.

Created on: February 23, 2007