2018-05-11 Fri

Ephraim Brasher, Standish Barry, and Joseph Edwards Jr. are known for their hallmarked early American gold coins. On 15th and 16th May, Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC is going to offer a unique gold 8-escudo coin, countermarked by Boston merchant Edwards in circa 1780.

The 1741-V Lima gold 8-escudo coin is plugged and countermarked by Edwards with a face value of $15. It is the only coin of its type from the regulated gold series. It is graded Extremely Fine 40 by NGC, and has an estimated value of above $100,000.

British colonies in North America were dependent on international coinage. Coins of varying fineness, weight and authenticity were circulated together. These coins were regulated by metalsmiths. The weight standard used by metalsmiths followed a decades-old tradition. The same standards were used for coinage after the US got its independence. Metalsmiths saw to it that the pieces met the standards. They created a mark on these coins once they were accepted. The U.S. Mint started producing and circulating coins in 1795 and regulated gold coins were used predominantly before that. Many of the gold coins were melted and recoined later.

Image Courtesy: Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC.