Collecting Jamestown: Part 3. Irish Coppers Found.

I am having fun, as the new year comes in. I hope you are too.
   It has been a challenge exploring and collecting coins (plus tokens and jetons) similar to those unearthed at Jamestown. This is an endeavor that suits the necromancer -- namely, hunting for relics linked by a dug history.
   In this post, I share my latest discoveries: Two Irish pennies dated 1601 and 1602. These are thin pieces, the width of a thumbnail, meager and fragile. Yet, compared the ha'penny a few weeks ago, they are twice. Still, I find it amazing that these razors were found at all -- even more amazing is that these thin coppers survived the ravages of Mother Nature.
   And found they were. One hundred and thirty-eight Irish coins (17 of them half-pennies) have been excavated from the loamy soil within James Fort. This is more than anywhere else in the world, even Ireland (so says Beverly Straube, one of the chief archaeologists on the site). Why so many? This question has a complicated answer, and not everyone agrees that the answer has been discovered -- but what intrigue there is.

Two Irish pennies similar to those found throughout Jamestown.
Most of them were discovered in a well located in the center of the palisaded
fort where they were buried (tossed away?) during the clean-up in 1610.
These pieces represent some of the earliest coins in Virginia.

   Apparently, the Irish pieces were minted in order to pay occupying English troops in Ireland. It was an expedient coinage meant to be used in Ireland only and traded for British currency when the soldiers returned home. But these copper pieces were not popular, and most were quickly traded or went unused. Straube's conjecture is that these coins were sent to Jamestown to provide a medium of exchange with the same stipulations (as in Ireland) that would allow the coppers to be traded for British money later on.
   Consequently, the large number of Irish pieces -- all dated 1601-02, and authorized by Elizabeth I -- represents a failed experiment. One or two other pieces have been found along the James River in Virginia, but all the rest come from Jamestown.
   Quite a story!
   Most of the pieces (nearly three-quarters) were discovered in sealed contexts within the palisaded fort. Six were found among the soldiers' pits whereas larger groupings were dispersed within the cellars of a few primitive buildings dating before 1610.
   The majority, however, was found in John Smith's well, located in the center of the fort. It has been suggested that the pieces were dumped there after Lord De La Warr ordered that the fort be cleared of debris and rebuilt. Keep in mind that he arrived in June 1610 and discovered the fort to be in ruins. Most of the colonists had died of starvation the previous winter (1609-10) -- a period known as the "starving time."

In collecting them, I decided on one penny of each date. They are scarce but available with persistent hunting. I found one at the Baltimore Coin Expo; the second one came from an UK dealer via EBay. For the colonial collector, these pieces represent some of the first coins present the English colonies (even if they were not paid out or spent).
   I enjoy the ruggedness of these pennies. Battered coins such as these might be shunned by insensitive collectors -- but once you embrace the Jamestown connection, they begin to glow. They represent great relic coins that can be collected in any condition, as the ones from Jamestown ranged from scudzy to less so. I chose less so.
   I feel that the spirits of Jamestown reside within the dotted borders of these pennies even if these particular coins were not dug within the palisades. But, together with the silver ha'penny, I am getting closer to drawing them out.