1774/3 Virginia Shilling - Silver Proof

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

The 1774/3 Virginia Shilling - Silver Proof is a proof coin from the Pre-1776 States Coinage (1652-1774) series. A royal warrant of May 20, 1773 allowed up to twenty-five tons of copper halfpence for Virginia to be struck at the Tower Mint, 60 to the pound, and Eric Newman described them as the only fully authorized coinage made for any of the colonies that became the United States. About five tons, some 672,000 halfpence, reached Virginia in February 1774, but the treasurer held them until a royal proclamation of November 16, 1774 allowed them to circulate. Newman sorted the obverses by whether a period follows GEORGIVS and the reverses by the number of harp strings. Newman knew four of these 1774 silver pieces, all brilliant proofs. The bust is larger than on the 1773 halfpence, and the obverse has GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA where the 1773 warrant called for GEORGIVS III REX, and Newman suggested calling it a pattern halfpenny in silver. Cataloged as PCGS #249.

Rarity Notes

4 known (Newman 1956)