Chalmers shilling

Date1783

Struck by John Chalmers

Engraver Thomas Sparrow

OriginAmerica, Maryland, Annapolis

MediumSilver

DimensionsDiameter: 21 mm Weight: 56.3 grains

Credit LineGift of the Lasser Family

Object number2004-8,37

Label TextCreated by a one-time Continental Army officer, preacher, sheriff and silversmith, these coins are unique pieces in the history of American coins. Struck during the last moments of the Revolutionary War, Chalmers' curious iconography (two birds fighting over a worm while a snake lurks behind the hedgerow) is meant as a warning to the Continental Congress, then meeting in Annapolis. To paraphrase, what Chalmers is say is that while the individual states bicker over trivial issues, danger (likely Great Britain) is just around the corner.

Breen #1012 (long worm)