Important British and World Coins

United States of America, William Wood coinage, Rosa Americana Twopence, undated [1722], motto in scroll, 15.41g/9h (Nelson 3; Durst 100). Obverse very fine, reverse better than fine but somewhat discoloured (£200-250)

On 12 July 1722 William Wood (1671-1730) obtained a patent to issue coins for ‘the English Plantations’ [i.e. the North American colonies] for a term of 14 years. The first coins made were undated; subsequently issues dated 1722, 1723 and 1724 appeared. The coins themselves, made of an admixture termed Bath metal, were struck at a building in Hogg lane, Seven Dials, London, opened in January 1722/3, as well as at Wood’s main mint in Bristol, closer to his principal mining concerns