Last week Bob Leonard speculated that coinage of the pewter dollars could have taken place as late as 1778 or 1779, with the date of 1776 used in honor of the Declaration of Independence. He referenced an item from the Nova-Scotia Gazette & Weekly Chronicle for Jan. 4, 1780.
So far no one has responded to my question of who made the Continental coinage. Elisha Gallaudet is thought to be the engraver, but evidence is scant. Are there punch linkages, stylistic cues, or other connections to work known with certainty to be from the hand of a particular engraver of the period?
Andrea Grimason came across the following definition of "Continental Currency" in the online Merriam-Webster's dictionary:
: the paper money issued by the Continental Congress during the American Revolution
: a series of early American pattern dollar-size coins, struck in England in pewter, silver, and brass and bearing on the obverse the legend “Continental Currency” and the date 1776
To read the complete article (behind a paywall), see:
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continental%20currency
I bolded the interesting phrase here: "struck in England in pewter, silver, and brass". In terms of credibility Merriam-Webster is perhaps a step above much of what other information can be found on the Internet, since presumably some scholar of good reputation wrote or reviewed the entry. But where did that information come from? Does anyone know of an original source which attributes the coinage to England?
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE CONTINENTAL DOLLAR
(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n44a11.html)
Wayne Homren, Editor
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