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FUN Signature US Coin Sale 1251 4-6 & 8-9 Jan 2017
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Sommer Islands Sixpence, Large Portholes AU50 NGC. Breen-3, W-11445, R.6. The Sommer Islands coinage, or "Hogge Money" was the first coinage produced for circulation in the English-speaking colonies of the New World. The Sommer Islands (called Bermuda today) were discovered by Juan de Bermudez circa 1505 and he was later shipwrecked there around 1532. Bermudez apparently released a number of hogs on the islands during his stay, and the animals proliferated in the wild for most of the next century. In 1609 an English ship called the Sea Adventurer, under the command of Sir George Sommers (or Somers), was wrecked on Bermuda after being driven off-course by a hurricane on its way to the Virginia colony. The ship's company found the islands quite congenial, with a pleasant climate and an ample food supply, including the numerous wild hogs. Sommers succeeded in building two smaller vessels over the next year and sailed on to Virginia, leaving three men behind as colonists and claiming the islands for England.
Although never a part of the United States, Bermuda was under the authority of the Virginia Company of London from November 1612 through June 1615, and much of what we know about the early coinage was recorded by Captain John Smith in his Generall Historie of Virginia New-England and the Summer Isles. The close link between the Jamestown colony of Virginia and Bermuda has influenced many collectors to incorporate the Sommer Islands coinage into the American colonial series.
The coins were authorized under letters of patent from James I on June 29, 1615 and were probably struck in England in 1615 or 1616. The coins were issued in four denominations: two pence, three pence, six pence, and shillings. The obverse of all the coins featured a hog as the central device, with the denomination in Roman numerals above. The shilling and six pence include the legend SOMMER ILANDS inside two beaded circles around. The reverse shows a ship, possibly the Sea Adventurer, under full sail. There are two die varieties of the six pence, one with Small Portholes and the other with Large Portholes. The coins were delivered to the islands during the administration of Governor Daniel Tucker sometime in 1616. Struck on thin brass planchets with a wash of silver after striking, the coins had little intrinsic value and only circulated in the islands, where they had some fiat value at the company store. The coins were retired by 1624 and colonists fell back on local commodities, like tobacco leaves, as mediums of exchange.
All surviving examples of the Sommer Islands coinage show the effects of corrosion from the moist tropical climate of Bermuda to some degree. Most of the known specimens have been recovered in recent years, being excavated from sandy areas using metal detectors. Only a single specimen of the six pence was known to collectors when Sylvester Crosby wrote his Magnum Opus Early Coins of America in 1875. In 1997, the Bermuda Monetary Authority issued Coins of Bermuda as a guide to the series. That work enumerates 19 specimens of the Large Portholes six pence known to collectors at the time, and it is possible that a few more have been discovered since. Only eight of the coins in the census were in private hands, however, with the majority owned by the government of Bermuda, the Bermuda Monetary Authority, or various museums. NGC and PCGS have combined to certify a total of eight examples between them, with an AU53 PCGS example finest (6/15).
The present coin is tied with one other example (the Eric P. Newman specimen) for second-finest certified. The Newman coin was offered in a Heritage auction in May 2014, where it realized $129,250. This piece is a solid AU50 example, with well-centered devices and medium brown surfaces that show less corrosion than the typical example. As seen on most specimens, the surfaces have pockets of green verdigris in sheltered areas. The design elements show better-than-average detail, with some of the hog's bristles and most of the obverse legend still legible. Intricate detail shows in the sails on the reverse and the large portholes are bold. Like many examples seen, the edges of the planchet show a few cracks and clips, as struck. Listed on page 38 of the 2017 Guide Book. Census: 2 in 50, 0 finer (11/16).
Sommer Islands Sixpence, Large Portholes AU50 NGC. Breen-3, W-11445, R.6. The Sommer Islands coinage, or "Hogge Money" was the first coinage produced for circulation in the English-speaking colonies of the New World. The Sommer Islands (called Bermuda today) were discovered by Juan de Bermudez circa 1505 and he was later shipwrecked there around 1532. Bermudez apparently released a number of hogs on the islands during his stay, and the animals proliferated in the wild for most of the next century. In 1609 an English ship called the Sea Adventurer, under the command of Sir George Sommers (or Somers), was wrecked on Bermuda after being driven off-course by a hurricane on its way to the Virginia colony. The ship's company found the islands quite congenial, with a pleasant climate and an ample food supply, including the numerous wild hogs. Sommers succeeded in building two smaller vessels over the next year and sailed on to Virginia, leaving three men behind as colonists and claiming the islands for England.
Although never a part of the United States, Bermuda was under the authority of the Virginia Company of London from November 1612 through June 1615, and much of what we know about the early coinage was recorded by Captain John Smith in his Generall Historie of Virginia New-England and the Summer Isles. The close link between the Jamestown colony of Virginia and Bermuda has influenced many collectors to incorporate the Sommer Islands coinage into the American colonial series.
The coins were authorized under letters of patent from James I on June 29, 1615 and were probably struck in England in 1615 or 1616. The coins were issued in four denominations: two pence, three pence, six pence, and shillings. The obverse of all the coins featured a hog as the central device, with the denomination in Roman numerals above. The shilling and six pence include the legend SOMMER ILANDS inside two beaded circles around. The reverse shows a ship, possibly the Sea Adventurer, under full sail. There are two die varieties of the six pence, one with Small Portholes and the other with Large Portholes. The coins were delivered to the islands during the administration of Governor Daniel Tucker sometime in 1616. Struck on thin brass planchets with a wash of silver after striking, the coins had little intrinsic value and only circulated in the islands, where they had some fiat value at the company store. The coins were retired by 1624 and colonists fell back on local commodities, like tobacco leaves, as mediums of exchange.
All surviving examples of the Sommer Islands coinage show the effects of corrosion from the moist tropical climate of Bermuda to some degree. Most of the known specimens have been recovered in recent years, being excavated from sandy areas using metal detectors. Only a single specimen of the six pence was known to collectors when Sylvester Crosby wrote his Magnum Opus Early Coins of America in 1875. In 1997, the Bermuda Monetary Authority issued Coins of Bermuda as a guide to the series. That work enumerates 19 specimens of the Large Portholes six pence known to collectors at the time, and it is possible that a few more have been discovered since. Only eight of the coins in the census were in private hands, however, with the majority owned by the government of Bermuda, the Bermuda Monetary Authority, or various museums. NGC and PCGS have combined to certify a total of eight examples between them, with an AU53 PCGS example finest (6/15).
The present coin is tied with one other example (the Eric P. Newman specimen) for second-finest certified. The Newman coin was offered in a Heritage auction in May 2014, where it realized $129,250. This piece is a solid AU50 example, with well-centered devices and medium brown surfaces that show less corrosion than the typical example. As seen on most specimens, the surfaces have pockets of green verdigris in sheltered areas. The design elements show better-than-average detail, with some of the hog's bristles and most of the obverse legend still legible. Intricate detail shows in the sails on the reverse and the large portholes are bold. Like many examples seen, the edges of the planchet show a few cracks and clips, as struck. Listed on page 38 of the 2017 Guide Book. Census: 2 in 50, 0 finer (11/16).