Colonial Williamsburg Collection

lkenefic · November 29, 2011 6:23AM

hey all...

I went to Colonial Williamsburg over the weekend and saw what appeared to be an incredible collection of colonial coinage:

Several denominations of Pine Tree shillings; NE Shilling; Rosa Americana; and a rather minty looking 1793 Chain cent... what an incredible collection to stumble upon! Also, quite a bit of paper currency.

I had all but written off my visit to Colonial Williamsburg as just another tourist trap. It was nothing like I remembered it to be when I visited for our eighth grade field trip. Gone were the artisans turning clay pots and selling them in the same shop; all of the other hands-on exhibits were gone as well. The first day, we ended up in just two exhibits (Magazine & Wig Maker) getting lectured. The second day was much better... an awesome collection of muskets and the collection of colonial coinage.

ricko · November 29, 2011 6:27AM

That exhibit would have made the trip worth it for many of us..... Cheers, RickO

JapanJohn · November 29, 2011 6:37AM

Go to the Pottery Factory in Williamsburg. More accurately it was an old pottery factory and is now a big flea market type thing. Awesome place. Used to live in Virginia Beach and went to Williamsburg every year several times.

John

scotty1419 · November 29, 2011 6:39AM

<< hey all...
Gone were the artisans turning clay pots and selling them in the same shop; all of the other hands-on exhibits were gone as well. . >>

This is truly sad! The living actors are what really made Williamsburg great for me. I remember those very well from maybe 10 year ago (!). Do they still have the tavern with authentic-era fare? I liked that a lot too.

lkenefic · November 29, 2011 6:47AM

<< 

<< hey all...
Gone were the artisans turning clay pots and selling them in the same shop; all of the other hands-on exhibits were gone as well. . >>

This is truly sad! The living actors are what really made Williamsburg great for me. I remember those very well from maybe 10 year ago (!). Do they still have the tavern with authentic-era fare? I liked that a lot too. >>

There were a couple of restaurants among the buildings, but they didn't seem to offer authentic fare. Perhaps I'm wrong... we didn't go into either one of them, but gauging by the menu I'd say unlikely. There was a Farmers Market and small plots of cabbage, pumpkins, other veggies. I didn't see extensive stables or livestock either. There was one "cafe" we went into that sold home made cookies, brownies etc... but they also sold Coke products and what I believe was locally bottled root beer and ginger ale...

coachbedford · November 29, 2011 7:09AM

I went to Williamsburg in 2004 and was hoping to see such a collection--- turns out the display had yet to be put up or was in dry dock somewhere. HIGHLY disappointing, though other than that, I loved my visit.

scotty1419 · November 29, 2011 7:10AM

You missed out on some amazing root beer and cookies

Mowgli · November 29, 2011 7:15AM

<< 

<< 

<< hey all...
Gone were the artisans turning clay pots and selling them in the same shop; all of the other hands-on exhibits were gone as well. . >>

This is truly sad! The living actors are what really made Williamsburg great for me. I remember those very well from maybe 10 year ago (!). Do they still have the tavern with authentic-era fare? I liked that a lot too. >>

I remember when you could order Christmas cards from the on-site printing shop and you could order a hand-made musket or a cap & ball pistol. The artisans - especially the basket maker who told me he was tired of hearing about Longerburger baskets - were the best part for me. I won't go back.

ColonialCoinUnion · November 29, 2011 7:31AM

Been there, done that.

lkenefic · November 29, 2011 7:36AM

<< You missed out on some amazing root beer and cookies

>>

we actually ponied up the $2.75/ bottle of root beer and ginger ale... and the cookies.

MidLifeCrisis · November 29, 2011 8:11AM

<< what appeared to be an incredible collection of colonial coinage >>

Oh, it doesn't just appear to be...it IS an incredible collection of colonial coinage.

Well worth the trip!

kaz · November 29, 2011 8:37AM

I will have to check out the collection, since I'm not too far away. Some of my patients work at CW and the village is now heavily into living history, with recreations of all sorts of things... trials, speeches at the Governor's palace and Capitol, and so forth. Things slow down there a good bit in the fall and winter, and a lot of the costumed employees are laid off temporarily. If anything, I think it is much more of an 18th century town, and less of a hokey tourist trap than it was 20 years ago.

halfcentman · November 29, 2011 9:17AM

I took my wife and three kids to Williamsburg in 2007, along with Yorktown and Jamestown. My kids were 10 and 8 at the time (little guy was 2 1/2).

NEVER WENT TO AN AMUSEMENT PARK! Best part since I loathe them.

My kids love history, especially my oldest. Was not impressed with most of the commercialism of the town, until I stumbled upon the DeWitt-Wallace Museum.

Coins, guns, furtniture. We spent all day there sans a lunch break with three kids in tow. It made it worth the entire trip.

NewEnglandRarities · November 29, 2011 9:35AM

Colonial Williamsburg is a fantastic place to visit and they have as many have mentioned, a tremendous collection of colonial coinage most of which has been donated by Joseph Lasser. It is an incredible display and place to visit!

Colonial Williamsburg Collection

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