The 1615-16 Coins of #Bermuda : The First English Coins of North America @coinweek

By Greg Reynolds for CoinWeek

In 1615 or 1616, coins were introduced in Bermuda. Although Bermuda was then called the Sommer Islands, for clarity, it is best to refer here to this place as Bermuda, as continual references to “Sommer Islands” would be distracting. Bermuda was then and still is a British colony. It is thus unsurprising that the first coins of Bermuda were denominated in British units: Twopence, Threepence, Sixpence and Twelvepence. These are the same denominations as the coins of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which were issued later in the same century. Twelvepence equaled one shilling and Twelvepence coins are typically termed Shillings.

Coins of all four denominations are undated; there is no indication on these coins of the year during which they were struck. Historical records suggest that they were struck in 1615 and/or 1616. Although it is likely that they were struck in England to be brought to Bermuda, it is plausible that some or all these coins were actually struck in Bermuda.

Eric Newman’s Bermuda Shilling is the best 1615-16 Bermuda coin
Sommer Islands Sixpence, large portholes, PCGS F-12
The Newman Threepence
Sommer Islands Twopence PCGS F-15

In the August 2009 issue of The Colonial Newsletter (NY: ANS), Max Spiegel presents a sound theory that the coins were struck at the Royal Mint in London, the primary mint of the English government. Spiegel emphasizes that … Read the complete article @ coinweek.com

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