Item 105074 - English shilling coin, King Charles I, Castine, ca. 1637

Item 105074 - English shilling coin, King Charles I, Castine, ca. 1637
Contributed by Maine Historical Society
Item 105074
English shilling coin, King Charles I, Castine, ca. 1637
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In 1840, this English shilling coin was found at the mouth of the Bagaduce River. The coin was stamped with the relief of a crest on one side, a bust of a man wearing a crown on the other, and the words "CHRISTO" and "CAROLUS...MAE.BRI.FR..."

Present day Castine was a contested area of overlapping Wabanaki, English and French claims for centuries. In 1674, during a period of French control, Dutch privateers attacked the fort and took the Baron of Saint-Castin (Jean Vincent d’Abbadie) and others hostage for ransom. When Saint-Castin returned to Castine in 1677, he established a trading post among Wabanakis on the Bagaduce River, about six miles from the old fort.

In 1684 Chief Madockawando’s daughter, Pidianiske (baptized as Molly Mathilde), married Saint-Castin and solidified the alliance between the French and Penobscot. Family ties and reciprocal relations gave Saint-Castin a stronger footing among Wabanaki people than the English settlers and traders encroaching up the coast. This coin may have been hidden by Saint-Castin.

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