Owner Comments:
John Chalmers was a talented gold and silversmith from Annapolis, Maryland, which at one time served as the temporary seat of the Continental Congress. He had numerous and diverse interests: At various times, he served as an officer in the Continental Army; a sheriff in Baltimore; a tavern keeper; a Common Counsel representative; a rope factory owner; and a Methodist preacher.
In 1783, the same year the Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War, the public was desperately clamoring for full weight, unadulterated, and reliable coins to facilitate small transactions. Even the Spanish (8 Reales) Dollar, a mainstay of circulating coinage, was the subject of serious abuses. It was frequently cut into pieces to create small change (most commonly into halves, quarters, and eighths). The unscrupulous sought a quick profit by "fudging" on the sizes of these fractional segments.
Not one to pass up an opportunity, John Chalmers established a small, purely private non-governmental mint, to produce 3 pence, 6 pence, and shillings of 81-83% fineness. For a commission, people could convert their underweight fractional pieces into a reliable standardized coinage.
Pictured above, is a 1783 Chalmers Sixpence, Large Date, designated Breen 1014 and W-1770. It has been graded VF Details by NGC because of minor smoothing repairs to the obverse, and was formerly part of the Long Island, and James E. Blake Colonial Collections.
The 5 sided star, usually weakly struck, and normally appearing in the center of the obverse wreath, is completely absent from this specimen. The reverse, which is as sharp as seen for this variety, features a cross with two clasping hands (representing the unity of the States) at its center, and ornaments in the fields nearby. Two opposite ends of one of the cross's arms are dominated by 8 sided stars. The other arm ends in crescents enclosing a "T" and "S", respectively. These are the initials of Thomas Sparrow, an accomplished silver/goldsmith, and friend of Chalmers, who is believed to have engraved the sixpence dies, and possibly those of the other Chalmer's denominations, (as well as the plates for some Maryland currency).
The diagnostics for the W-1770 variety are: the upright of the "P" in Pence extends beyond its base; and a ray from the end star passes through the "P".
The Chalmers Sixpence exists in 3 die marriages: 1)The Small Date variety (W-1775),
exhibits a narrow "8" in the date; 2) The W-1770 Large Date variety has a period, (which is actually an ornament), after the date; 3) Another Large Date variety (W-1765), the rarest, is characterized by a period between the numerals "7" and "8" in the date. The edges of the sixpence have been filed to create a fine reeding.
A total of 17 Large Date pieces have been professionally graded, 12 by PCGS, and 5 by NGC. 3 Small Date sixpence have been graded by PCGS, and 3 by NGC.