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| The Tale of the 5-Cent "Fishscale".
The genesis of our silver 5-cent piece actually begins in Spain , hundreds of years ago. In the very late 1400s, Portuguese exploration along the coast of Africa had resulted in an influx of gold from the " Guinea Coast " - more or less where Ghana is today. There was enough to upset the gold-to-silver value relationship, gold becoming cheaper. The Spanish, with their own bullion plunder from America beginning to arrive, issued a new type of coinage to reflect the change. The old pure gold "excellente" coin was superceded in the early 1500s by the "real" ("royal")/ "escudo" ("shield") system. In those days, there were no decimals and most weights and measurements were based on halves and doubles. So it came to pass that Spain began to strike a silver "real" (about the size of our present "nickel" but thinner). As part of the set, there was a ½ real as well as those of 2-, 4- and 8-reales. Not uncoincidentally, the big silver 8-real was the same size as the various European crown-size coins that went under various names, "thaler" (pronounced "taller") and "daalder" (pronounced "dollder") among them. In fact, even the Spanish came to nickname their 8-reale coin a "dollaro" - much like we refer to a dollar as a "buck".
As the other half of the currency , there was a gold "escudo" - along with larger ones of 2-, 4- and 8-escudo values. The silver 8-reales was valued at a ½-escudo so the silver 8-reales and the gold 8-escudos was about the same size and weight, with the latter worth 16 times the former. (This was actually a little too silver-cheap and later had to have its value "tuned" to something like 15½-to-1).
The copper coinage was in "maravedis", with 32-maravedis equal to a silver real.
But it's the silver half-real that is of interest to us.
In about 1535, the Spanish established two mints in the New World, one at Mexico City and the other at Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola (today shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic ). The reason for doing this was to process some of the silver and gold bullion that was being mined and plundered in the American possessions. Over the next century or so, other mints were established near major ore bodies - such as Potosi ( Bolivia ), Lima ( Peru ) and Cartagena and Bogota ( Columbia ). The American coins were the same fineness, weight and value as those struck in Spain; the difference was in design, the American pieces carrying a representation of the Pillars of Hercules (allegory for the Strait of Gibralter) while the Spanish coins carried a quartered shield of Castile and Leone on the reverse (the obverse might be a portrait but just as frequently the royal arms of all Spain). The relationship changed in 1684 - and that was when the actual forerunner of our 5-cent silver was born. In that year, Spain was broke again, having been pounded in a war with France this time. And as France herself was going to do many times in the following century, Spain decided to scare up some money by the simple expedient of tinkering with the coin (and not telling anybody). The new standard they called "New Plate", to distinguish it from the former, better "Old Plate". By reduction of both weight and fineness of the silver coin, each was reduced in bullion value by about 20% - and for the time being, this included the 8-real "dollar". But the moneychangers of Europe were not fooled a minute and promptly devalued all post-1684 Spanish silver coin by 20%, so Spain didn't gain anything. Since they didn't, they then brought their bigger coinage back to the old value. In the silver, the 8-reales "crown" was restored to Old Plate standards - but not its fractions. In this way, intentional or not, Spain had created something of a captive "token" coinage with the smaller silver tending to stay in Spain . This is actually where the direct ancestor of our 5-cent silver had its beginning: as the "New Plate" ½-real silver coin. But the silver coinage of the Spanish-American mints never changed at all but stayed on the "Old Plate" standards, giving the minor silver pieces a value 25% higher than in Spain. The explanation for this non-move is easy: most of the American silver was being exported as pure bullion anyway so no purpose would be served by cheapening it. Even at this early date, such silver coinage as there was in the British American colonies of the Caribbean and mainland tended in large part to be Spanish-American, its value expressed in shillings and pence according to the local "pound" used. Most such areas had their own and most such areas valued the "Spanish dollar" (as they called the 8-real piece), the gold "doubloon" (the gold 8-escudos) and the British guinea in terms of their own currency. Practically none had coinage of their own, the Massachusetts " Willow " and "Pine" silver coinages (all dated 1652) an exception.
Spanish 2-real "Pistareen", 1722 Cut quarter of this coin (½-real), enlarged Some time in the early 1700s, the slightly debased Spanish minor silver began to turn up in the British colonies, their importation and use markedly increasing over the next century. On the face of it, this should not have been the case; not much was "accidentally" exported from Spain and the better - and abundant - Spanish- American minor silver should have filled all their needs. We can only entertain the suspicion that this poorer coin was purposely imported by speculators who attempted to circulate it at face, realizing a 25% profit in doing so. By the amount that came to be in circulation, this must have been successful overall. Even so, it wasn't long before every colonist was fully aware that a Spanish-American 2-real piece was worth more than a Spanish 2-real. Once the difference was widely recognized, the Spanish pieces proved to be useful. Generally speaking, the most common Spanish coins in debased silver was the 2-real which came to be nicknamed the "pistareen" in the British colonies. Accompanying it was its half (1 real) and quarter (½ real). The last evolved into our 5-cent silver. These "fractions" of the pistareen might have been present in colonial circulation as whole smaller coins or as cut halves and quarters; all were rather thin, broad pieces with the quartered shield on the reverse almost inviting "cut here". As of the 1750s, "Halifax Currency" became widespread in Canada . In it, the Spanish dollar (8-real piece) was valued at 5-shillings Halifax . The 4-real, therefore, represented a half-crown (2s6d) and the 2-real 15d Halifax and the 1-real 7½d. But when the pistareen and its parts were added to the mix (with its 20% discount), the Spanish 2-real was an even Halifax shilling, the 1-real its 6d and the ½-real 3d. All were very convenient values - or at least most were. When the U.S. went decimal in 1792, striking its first silver dollars in 1794, their whole currency was based on the Spanish-American "dollar", the new U.S. one made its exact counterpart in weight and fineness. For several decades, the Spanish-American 8-real did pass in circulation for a dollar, the 4-real as a half-dollar, the 2-real as a quarter-dollar, and even the 1-real for 1/8th-dollar. The Spanish 2-real "pistareen" passed as one-fifth dollar (20-cents), the 1-real as 1/10th-dollar (10-cents) and the ½-real as 1/20th dollar (5-cents). There was so much Spanish and Spanish-American silver around that there was not much need for more than limited mintages of U.S. coins for the same values. But they were struck, if for no other reason than to establish the fact that the new United States of American did indeed have its own coinage.
The first U.S. silver "5-cent piece" was not that at all: it was a "half disme" and first appeared in 1794. Not that you can tell from the coin; it showed no value on it then - and didn't until the appearance of the "Capped Bust" types came out in 1829. Everyone knew what they were by their size. Oddly, these latter did show the value as "5 C." during their time of issue (1829-37). In 1837 first appeared the Liberty Seated type which in general design remained the same until its disappearance as a silver coin in 1873; on all them, the denomination is given as being a "Half Dime". The later years of silver Half Dime overlapped with huge issues of the copper-nickel "5 Cents" that first appeared in 1866 and was usually struck by the millions - sometimes by the tens of millions. Canada wasn't backward in using American silver. In fact, the Bank of Montreal imported considerable quantities of both the dime and half-dime in 1838 as freshly struck coin. It was necessary at the time. In 1831, Canada devaluated the pistareen from 12d to 10d Halifax , making the "quarter-pistareen" (either as a whole Spanish ½-real coin or a cut piece) an odd 2½d.
U.S. "Half-dime", 1796 (Type 1796-7) U.S. Half-Dime, 1853-arrows (denoting light weight) In the very early 1850s, the U.S. also devalued the Spanish- American minor silver by 20%, citing excessive wear; Canada immediately followed suit so for a few years, these old silver pieces were valued the same as the pistareens had been twenty years before, the 2-real (previously 15d Halifax) now a 12d "Halifax Shilling" and the ½-real 3d. After a false start in 1851, the Province of Canada finally went decimal in 1858, using the same standard as the U.S. : the pound sterling valued at $4.86 2/3. But in doing so, silver coins had to be struck, since by British law, they had to contain precisely the bullion silver that British coins did in proportion to their value - which was slightly less than American ones. Each of the new Canadian 5-cent silver pieces weighed just under 18-grains (or 1.167 grams) and were composed of Sterling Silver, .925 fine. (In 1910, the weights of Canadian silver coins was slightly raised to even amounts, in the case of the 5-cent silver to 18 grains.)
Canada . 5-Cents, 1858 (enlg. 2x) Canada . 5-Cents, 1921 (enlg. 2x)
The new Canadian coins were all equivalents of the old convenient 3d, 6d and 1-shilling values; i.e., 5-, 10- and 20-cent pieces. The dies for all of them were designed and sunk by Leonard Charles Wyon, Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint, London . Even after Confederation, the silver 5- and 10-cent pieces for the Dominion of Canada used the same dies as the old Province of Canada to the end of Victoria 's reign. On 1 Nov. 1860 New Brunswick also went decimal on the Canadian/U.S. standards and was also forced to issue her own silver coins in the same denominations as the Canadian ones. Issued in two years - 1862 and '64 - all three denominations used the Canadian dies altered to read " New Brunswick " (although the reverse of the 20-cent was that of a rejected Canadian pattern).
Newfoundland . 5-Cents, 1888 (enlg 2x) Newfoundland . 5-Cents, 1947-C (enlg 2x)
If the Canadian 5-cent was the direct ancestor of the New Brunswick ones, the latter in turn gave rise to those of Newfoundland which first appeared in circulation in 1865. But because the Newfoundlanders used a slightly more "expensive" dollar, valuing the pound sterling at only $4.80, their silver coins were about 1.3% heavier in response to the British rule for weights. Since there exists a bronze Newfoundland 5-cent pattern (Ch-NF2) that except for the name is identical with an N.B. 1864 5-cent, we know that there was initial consideration of continuing the line of design. Presumably, because the Newfoundland coins would be heavier, distinctive reverses were adopted. With Confederation, the New Brunswick pieces were quietly withdrawn as they wore. All Canadian 5-cents remained essentially the same until 1901 when those of Edward VII appeared. Even though the Imperial Crown replaced the St. Edward's Crown on the reverse in 1903, all the reverses were much the same 1858-1921. Edward's portrait was a reduction from the standard model by George W. DeSaulles. So was that of George V (except by E.B. MacKennal) as the silver 5-cents appeared 1911-21. Skyrocketing silver prices first saw the fineness of all Canadian silver coins reduced from .925 to .800 fine as of 1920 and the very last Canadian 5-cent "fishscale" struck in 1921, replaced thereafter by larger nickel coins. The 1921 5-cents were never actually released to circulation; perhaps as many as 400 were bought as souvenirs by visitors to the Mint that year but most of the entire issue (2,582,495 struck) were melted down. This was the end of Canadian 5-cent silver but for a time the denomination lived on in Newfoundland , continuing through the reigns of Edward VII and George V with the same obverses as Canada but with distinctive reverses. When the first Newfoundland silver 5-cents appeared for George VI in 1938, they used a "Colonial" crowned portrait of the king rather than the bareheaded one of Canada . Having lived through the rise and collapse of silver prices in 1919-20, the Newfoundland coins continued to be struck in Sterling Silver right up until 1945. At this time, the Province was convinced to reduce the fineness to .800 since the coins were being struck at the Royal Canadian Mint and had been since 1940. The last two issues for Newfoundland were rather limited strikings in 1946 and '47. With Newfoundland joining Confederation with Canada in 1949, the 1947 issue turned out to be the very last issue of silver 5-cent pieces anywhere in Canada . But it had lasted a long time in one form or another.
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April 2007"Report on the Lasqueti Mint" ( Jennings ) The (Nearly) Perfect Counterfeiting Scheme The Tale of the 5-Cent 'Fishscale
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