Richard Gascoyne, an elder of the First Presbyterian Church, Albany, sent us an image of the church's Church Penny (see below). He writes:

As part of the 250th Anniversary Celebration (1763-2013) ourcongregation, by order of the Session, will present a penny tothe Albany Institute of History and Art. Not just any penny, itis the Albany Church Penny, minted in 1790 for the FirstPresbyterian Church. It is "one of the great coinagecuriosities of the American colonies and the early federalperiod" according to a description on a numismatics auctionsite.

How much was a penny worth in 1790? Whatwas an acceptable offering for the collectionplate at that time? Not easy questions.

Prior to 1792 everyday business was conductedusing a hodge-podge of tokens, coins, medals,foreign currency, and counterfeits issued byprivate individuals and private mints inside andoutside of America. Imagine reaching into yourpocket and retrieving this mess. Which ones gointo the collection plate? You guess! Imaginethe expression on the Church Treasurer's facewhen he tallies the collection. How do you runa church with this "money?"

In 1792 the US Treasury started minting coins.Alexander Hamilton, a frequent attendee of ourchurch and good friend of Eliphalet Nott (pastorof FPC, 1798-1804) became the first Secretaryof the US Treasury and was instrumental in thefounding of a national bank. Did he have inputinto FPC's decision to mint a coin?

The British Pound Sterling was the mostuniversal exchange. The Albany ChurchPenny, twelve to a shilling, was in 1790 worth roughly the same as, or a little less than, the Britishpenny.

We are assuming that members of thecongregation bought these pennies to put inthe collection plate weekly, and that thepurpose was to get money from congregantsup-front whether or not they came to churchand put them in the plate, and to recycle andresell the coins that were returned and put inthe collection plate. And also, perhaps moreimportant, to get a reliable and readilyaccepted currency (British sterling) in thehands of the Church Treasurer, who, in turn,gave the contributor Church Pennies to dropinto the collection plate.

On January 27, 2013 at a ceremony atAlbany Institute of History and Art, our pennywill be presented to the Institute. It is anartifact that speaks of the history of our localcongregation, our city, our state, and ournation. Reserve the date!

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:QUERY: ALBANY CHURCH PENNY INFORMATION SOUGHT(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n38a12.html)
NOTES ON THE ALBANY CHURCH PENNY(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n39a19.html)