Description

This so called “hogge money” is thought to be the first coinage of the American colonies. A Hog is pictured on one side & a sailing vessel on the other. Hogs were introduced to the Bermuda Islands around 1515 by the Spaniard Juan Bermudez, from whom Bermuda got its name. When Sir George Somers, was en route to Jamestown, Va. from England, he ran into a hurricane & was shipwrecked on the islands. Somers & the crew survived off the hogs. In 10 months the crew had built a new ship & set sail for the Virginia Colony with much needed provisions. Somers later returned to Bermuda for additional food & died in 1611. (Soon after the islands were renamed to Sommer Island). In 1615, a colony was formed on the island & in order to encourage commerce, King James I granted the colony permission to produce coinage.
AN EXACT REPLICA
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