Vintage 1976 Bicentennial American Revolution Wooden Nickel, Shippensburg, PA

Vintage 1976 Bicentennial American Revolution Wooden Nickel made by Hughes Super Thrift out of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

1 1/2"

This is a very neat historic find from Shippensburg, the oldest community of the Cumberland Valley and the second oldest west of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania (after York to the east). In July 1730, 12 Scots-Irish families came to the site of the present-day Shippensburg and built cabin homes along Burd's Run. Shippensburg began as the western outpost of colonial settlement.

The village received its name from Edward Shippen, a prominent Lancaster resident (and onetime mayor of Philadelphia) who obtained the patent to the land from the heirs of William Penn. Edward Shippen's granddaughter, Peggy Shippen, was historically notable as the wife of General Benedict Arnold, who betrayed the Continental Army by defecting to the British during the American Revolutionary War.

In 1735, Samuel Perry built the Widow Piper's Tavern at the southwest corner of East King Street and Queen Street. This building was selected as the place for the first Cumberland County Courts in 1750 and 1751. The building has been restored and serves today as the home of the Shippensburg Civic Club.