I'll wade into this with my own punched coin anecdote:  among the many
coins of various sorts found at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury,
MA (ca. 1635-1986) is a 2-kopec piece dated 1797, with a neatly drilled
hole.  I interpret it as a souvenir of the Baltic trade in which the
merchants who owned the farm participated, possibly presented to a child or
grandchild.  The likelihood of association with African Americans is
exceedingly slim.  I'm beginning to think, given the wide-ranging response
to the original query, that there's at least an MA thesis or a journal
article in this topic.  Anybody out there got the time, or a student with
the time?
 
 
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Mary C. Beaudry
Editor, Northeast Historical Archaeology
Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Archaeology
Boston University
Boston, MA 02215
 
tel. 617-353-3415
fax. 617-353-6800
email [log in to unmask]
 
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