FINEST KNOWN 1652 NEW ENGLAND SHILLING
The E-Sylum (10/24/2021)
Book Content
FINEST KNOWN 1652 NEW ENGLAND SHILLING
The 1652 New England shilling recently discovered in the United Kingdom has been confirmed as the finest-known example of the first coin struck in what is now the US. It is due to be auctioned online on Friday November 26 by Morton & Eden of London. It is estimated to bring £150,000-200,000 (US$200,000-300,000). An ancestor of the current owner was an early settler in New England.
Morton & Eden kindly provided this preview draft of the catalogue description. Thank you. Great discovery!-Editor
The Property of the Hon. Wentworth Beaumont
U.S.A., Colonial North America, New England, shilling, undated, struck in Boston in1652 by John Hull and Robert Sanderson, the silver planchet countermarked 'NE' on obverseand 'XII' on reverse, 72.2 gr. (Noe 3-B; Salmon 3-C), the finest known example of the firstcoin struck in what is now the U.S.A., recently discovered in the UK and now in NGC holdergraded MS61, extremely rare and the only New England shilling to have been classed as'Mint State' by either grading service £150,000-200,000
Provenance:
Wentworth Family Collection. Probably acquired when new by William Wentworth(1616-97), an early Colonial settler who may well have landed in New England in 1636 withJohn Wheelwright (the controversial antinomian who was related through marriage to AnneHutchinson and who, in 1638, founded the town of Exeter in what was to become NewHampshire). William Wentworth followed Wheelwright to Exeter and some of his manydescendants - he was twice married and had 11 children - were to achieve great prominenceboth in the nascent state and elsewhere.
This specimen was recently discovered in the United Kingdom in a tin containing numerouscoins and medals, many of which are included in this sale (see lots xxx, xxx....) and it has notpreviously been recorded. Although the possibility exists that the shilling was collected at alater date by one of William Wentworth's numerous descendants (including one LieutenantGovernor and two Colonial Governors of New Hampshire), the presence in the familycollection of certain other pieces - notably the Commonwealth unite of 1650 (lot xxx) - is feltto support the hypothesis that William Wentworth probably obtained it when it was new.
Hull and Sanderson's New England coins, famously the first pieces to be struck in NorthAmerica, were produced over a period of just a few weeks in 1652 using puncheons whichwere, essentially, like hallmarking tools. The present specimen was made when the 'NE'punch had been re-cut for the third and final time, while the 'XII' is from the second of fourseparate reverse punches, this one being distinguished by a pronounced flaw caused by acrack in the punch running from the base of the second 'I' to its edge. It is believed that thisexample is the tenth-known coin struck from this combination of punches and its Mint Statestatus is superior to that of all known specimens of the type. As it so happens the next-finestpiece is also of the Noe 3-B variety and is graded AU58 NGC (ex Robert Coulton Davis(1890), Thomas Hall, Virgil Brand, Carl Wurtzbach, T. James Clark, F.C.C. Boyd, John J.Ford, Jon Hanson and Donald Partrick).
For more information, see:
https://www.mortonandeden.com/
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
MORTON & EDEN OFFER SWEET TIN FIND(https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n39a25.html)
