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2 Pence
| Issuer | Bermuda |
|---|---|
| Year | 1616 |
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| Composition | Brass |
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| Obverse description | A hog passant to the left occupies the central field, rendered in low relief with visible bristles along the back. The Roman numeral II, denoting the denomination, appears prominently above the animal in the upper field. The design is enclosed within a beaded border typical of early hammered colonial coinage. This piece belongs to the celebrated Hogge Money series, the earliest coinage associated with a British colonial possession in the Americas. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A two-masted sailing ship is depicted in profile, its sails billowing, occupying the majority of the reverse field. The letter S appears to the left of the vessel and the letter I to the right, together likely referencing the Sommer Islands, the early colonial designation for Bermuda. The design is enclosed within a beaded border consistent with the hammered technique employed throughout this coinage. The crude but vigorous engraving reflects the primitive production methods characteristic of this extraordinarily rare early colonial series. |
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| Additional information |
These are among the earliest coins struck for any English colonial territory in the Americas. Bermuda's "Hogge Money" — named for the wild hogs that greeted the first settlers — was produced in England around 1616 for use in the fledgling colony, making it a genuinely rare survivor of early Atlantic commerce. The brass examples are considerably scarcer than the copper-alloy pieces, and catalogers have long debated whether the brass composition was intentional or reflects variation in the alloy batches used by the English hammered-coin producer.
The colony itself had only been permanently settled in 1612, meaning this coinage was issued fewer than four years into Bermuda's existence as a functioning English settlement.