? This is my boomstick | Main | Wipers ?
November 15, 2003
Threepence
An amateur excavation has uncovered a John Chalmers threepence piece under 10 Cornhill St. in Annapolis.
Chalmers was a silversmith who began working in Annapolis in the 1760s. He served in the Continental Army and was elected to the town council in 1783. He died in 1817. By 1783, the United States had won its independence but did not have its own money. People would often use English coins or Spanish dollars that were cut into eight pieces. Many people were paid in tobacco. Congress created the national Mint in 1792.
About 100 Chalmers coins have been discovered in collections. And although many historians assumed Chalmers had worked in Annapolis, no one had ever found one of his coins there.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at November 15, 2003 11:11 AM