Test Time: *[Es ist sehr kalt heute.]
How did the German “mineral men” at Fort Raleigh obtain the copper ornaments from the Indians? Perhaps by trading “Rechenpfennige” (reckoning pennies) which they had brought with them. While excavating Fort Raleigh, three of these were found and a fourth one was found about 40 miles to the south at an Indian village near Cape Hatteras.
These casting counters were made of an alloy of copper, zinc, and lead. They were formed in the same way that coins were made. A blob of metal was placed between two die and hit a very hard blow. Any design in the die was transferred to the metal. The casting counters found in North Carolina were richly marked and therefore may have been attractive to the Indians. The four counters found in North America were all made by Hans Schultes of Nuernberg from 1553 to 1584.
The original purpose of the casting counters was like the beads on an abacus. Instead of being strung, a lined board was used. After the introduction of Roman numerals, the counters became obsolete as a computing device. Merchants still used them to mark up the balances of their customers. Like low denomination coins, they were used as gambling markers also.
These metal pieces were attractive to the Indians because of the copper content and the ornate design. Those found at Fort Raleigh had holes punched in them which would permit them to be strung around a neck on a leather cord. Without being aware of it, the native chiefs wore symbols of European religion and government.
In retrospect, the Europeans were looking for the wrong things and they went about it in the worse possible way. They were aware that Virginia had an excellent source of iron ore with plentiful supplies of wood and water power. The iron would never have provided sufficient motivation; it took dreams of gold and silver to motivate the English into action. These dreams die hard. In the first and second decade of the 1700's, precious metals were still motivating men to action in Virginia. The thought there was silver in Virginia (Franz Michel) plus the desire to exploit it (Christoph von Graffenried) lead to the First Germanna Colony. Even one of the Royal Governors, Alexander Spotswood, was drawn into the chase for silver.
After the First Germanna Colony was here, they were astute enough to realize that something better here than silver. They helped Gov. Spotswood get pointed in the right direction.
*[It is very cold today.]
(18 Jan 07)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.