| Description |
1652 SHILNG Oak Tree Shilling, IN at Bottom MS65 NGC. Noe-4, W-460, Salmon 2-D, R.4. 72.6 grains. This is a remarkable Gem. Glossy medium brown surfaces are devoid of abrasions or planchet flaws. A consistently sharp strike is seen, with the solitary exception of the N in IN. The reverse is perfectly centered, and the obverse is only moderately misaligned toward 6 o'clock. The exceptional quality of the present piece easily exceeds any of the three examples of Noe-4 from the October 2005 John J. Ford, Jr. Stack's auction, or any of the three examples of the variety from the January 2002 Hain Family Collection, which carried Norweb and Vlack pedigrees. The Newman example is comparable in quality to the Noe plate coin, called "the finest we know of" by Hodder in 2002. Among all IN at Bottom Oak Tree Shilling Noe varieties, the NGC Census is 1 in 65 and 2 finer (4/14). Although dated 1652, Oak Tree coinage was struck between 1660 and 1667. Numismatists long assumed that the 1652 date was sustained to make the coinage appear to have been struck during Oliver Cromwell's rule of England, when the Massachusetts colony lacked Royal oversight. However, the 1662 date on Oak Tree twopence contradicts that traditional belief, since Charles II assumed the British throne in 1660. Unlike the Virginia and Maryland colonies, the Massachusetts colony was never granted the right of coinage. The existence of Massachusetts silver coinage without any reference to the King of England could be interpreted as an act of defiance, or even as an assertion of independence, although colonists may have regarded the Boston Mint in purely commercial terms. Ex: Empire Coin Company; Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
Realized $105,750.00. Description courtesy of Heritage Auctions. |
