Coins have much to offer.  They provide more than just dates.  There are
counterfeits British coins which were heavily produced during the colonial
period.  Why didn't Queen Anne produce small copper coins.... because there
were so many counterfeits out there from the previous monarchy (King William
III). Did you know it was only considered to be a misdemeanor for
counterfeiting halfpennies and farthings in England? Terms like chiseler
come from folks chiseling the coins thin so that they could melt down what
they chiseled off.  There are clipped coins, drilled coins (small coins
placed on a string so that they would not be lost)and coins made into toys
(buzzers).  How long does it take for a coin to wear almost smooth...?  Why
do some coin have milling and other don't?  Do you know why we do not find
British silver or gold coins in the original colonies?  Did you know that
the Spanish silver dollar was legal tender until 1857 and that the U.S.
dollar is based off the Spanish real?

Coins have much more to offer that just dates. We need to be looking past
the dates and look at their meaning in time and place.  In a bartering
economy coins are sparse, yet at tavern sites they are plentiful.

Yes there are loads of books on the subject but it would be nice to have a
book that pulls all of this together from an archaeologist's point of view.
I find that when I give presentations people find these added things of
interest.

Just my thoughts on the matter,

Bill Liebeknecht, MA, RPA
Principal Investigator
Hunter Research, Inc.
Trenton, New Jersey

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Branstner, Mark C
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 2:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Announcement for HISTARCH list serve

Since the prospectus for the planned "coin" publication was very vague, let
me jump in with a couple of thoughts that were probably obvious to more than
a few list members ..

OK, not to put too fine a point on it ... But, coins and tokens are probably
the best documented artifacts that we could possibly find on an
archaeological site.  There are shelves of books dedicated to every type of
coin, token, and medal that you could possibly think of, dating back to
Classical times. So, I see very little utility in another book that
reiterates what is available from so many other, and almost certainly,
infinitely more complete sources ... At least in terms of basic IDs.  That
was exactly what was wrong with Left Coast Press' recent book on ceramic
marks.  Although it promised much, it yielded almost no information that was
not readily available in standard reference books.

Now, on the other hand, if your proposed publication is going to focus on
the presence of "atypical" coinage, medals, etc., in well documented
archaeological settings, then I can see some utility to the book, and the
potential for adding significant new information.  However, if you're going
to tell me that you found a 1863 U.S. 2-cent piece on a mid-nineteenth
farmstead in Ohio, that is information frankly not worth knowing. 

Just my 2-cents.

Mark
___________________________________

Mark C. Branstner, RPA
Senior Historical Archaeologist

Illinois State Archaeological Survey
Prairie Research Institute
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
23 East Stadium Drive
Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: 217.244.0892
Fax: 217.244.7458
Cell: 217.549.6990
[log in to unmask]

"The difference between genius and idiocy? Genius has its limits."  --
Albert Einstein









On 7/31/13 1:08 PM, "ROBERT NEYLAND" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Coins and tokens from shipwreck sites may be useful since these are 
>usually well dated sites.
>
>
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>On Jul 31, 2013, at 1:42 PM, "James C. Bard"
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Send information to Margie Akin and James Bard regarding coins and 
>>token finds
>> 
>> Bard is:   [log in to unmask]
>> Akin is:    [log in to unmask]
>> 
>> thanks!