A 1773 Virginia half penny recovered from the cellar of the house at Eutaw Farm during the 2015 archaeological investigation in northeast Baltimore, Maryland. The halfpenny displays the bust of George III on the obverse with the shield of Virginia on the reverse. On May 20, 1773, the Virginia Assembly authorized the coining of a halfpenny at the Tower mint in London. Five tons of halfpence arrived in New York aboard the ship “Virginia” on February 14, 1774 but were not distributed until written royal permission was obtained about a year later. After the initial disbursement, the Revolutionary war broke out in Massachusetts. Consequently Virginians hoarded the new halfpenny, along with all other copper coins, until the end of the war. Although the halfpenny contained the portrait of the king of England, it is clear these coins were used in Revolutionary and post war.
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