Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, commissioned this coinage in England around 1659 — one of the very few proprietary colonial issues ever authorized for an American colony. The coins were struck in London, almost certainly at the Tower Mint, funded privately by the Baltimore family rather than by any crown authority. Maryland had no mint of its own, and the chronic shortage of small change in the colony made some form of metallic currency genuinely urgent.
The "small bust" designation distinguishes this die variety from the larger bust version of the same denomination — a distinction that matters considerably to specialists working the series. Surviving examples in any grade are scarce; the total known population across all four Baltimore denominations remains modest, and the groat sees the tightest supply of the group.
Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, commissioned this coinage in England around 1659 — one of the very few proprietary colonial issues ever authorized for an American colony. The coins were struck in London, almost certainly at the Tower Mint, funded privately by the Baltimore family rather than by any crown authority. Maryland had no mint of its own, and the chronic shortage of small change in the colony made some form of metallic currency genuinely urgent.
The "small bust" designation distinguishes this die variety from the larger bust version of the same denomination — a distinction that matters considerably to specialists working the series. Surviving examples in any grade are scarce; the total known population across all four Baltimore denominations remains modest, and the groat sees the tightest supply of the group.