The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 16, April 22, 2007, Article 24

CASTINE AND THE OLD COINS FOUND THERE

John and Nancy Wilson pointed out the following item published on the
web site of the Wilson Museum of Castine, Maine.  The Wilson Museum
Bulletin (vol 4, Nos 24-25) reprinted an article by Joseph Williamson
first printed for the Maine Historical Society in 1859 titled "Castine;
And the Old Coins Found There", about a coin hoard discovered in the
town in 1840.

"Upon finding the first coin, which proved to be a French crown, Capt.
Grindle and his son commenced digging away the earth around the rock,
and by the time it was dark, had possessed themselves of eighteen or
twenty additional pieces. They then abandoned the search, intending
to renew it on the following day. That night a severe snow storm
occurred, which covered the ground, and rendered further investigations
during the winter impracticable.

"Early in the spring they resumed the examination. On the top of the
rock, embedded in the mass, one or two coins were found, and upon striking
a crowbar into the declivity, and grubbing up the alders, they came upon
a large deposit, numbering some four or five hundred pieces of the
currency of France, Spain, Spanish America, Portugal, Holland, England,
and Massachusetts. Mr. Grindle's wife held her apron, which her husband
and son soon loaded with, as she afterwards remarked, “the best lapful
she had ever carried.”"

"Most of the coins were French crowns, half-crowns, and quarters, all
of the reigns of Louis XIII. And Louis XIV., and bore various dates,
from 1642 to 1682."

"A large part of the money, numerically considered, consisted of the
old Massachusetts or Pine Tree currency, of which there were fifty or
seventy-five shillings, and nearly as many sixpences."

"The next largest proportion consisted of the clumsy, shapeless
Spanish coinage, commonly called “cob money” or “cobs,” and sometimes
“cross money,” from the figure of a cross, which always characterizes
it."

wilsonmuseum.org/bulletins/spring2003.htmly
wilsonmuseum.org/bulletins/summer2003.html

[Sydney P. Noe wrote about the hoard in the American Numismatic
Society's Numismatic Notes and Monographs, no. 100, "The Castine
Deposit: An American Hoard".   Dave Bowers also covered the subject
in his book, "American Coin Treasures and Hoards". -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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